Bajpai, Rajesh, Vertika Shukla, D. Upreti, and K. Semwal. "Selection of Suitable Lichen Bioindicator Species for Monitoring Climatic Variability in the Himalaya." Environmental Science and Pollution Research 21.19 (2014): 11380-1394. Web.
This study taking place in the Govind Wildlife Sanctuary in the Himalayan mountains of India looked at three different epiphytic macrolichens and compared their potential as indicator species for certain kinds of air pollution using environmental variables and comparison to a GIS created map of pollution profiles. Samples were analyzed for metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). They mapped the different elemental concentrations of the three species separately using geostatistical analysis techniques. Rasters were created for causational air quality factors using interpolated distance weighting (IDW) that were then normally co-krigged, all in ArcGIS. The different lichen species accumulated metals and PAHs significantly differently and that long-range transport of pollutants is affecting the remote Himalayan mountains at high elevations. The IDW map helped show the spatial distribution of contaminants based on the lichen data for areas where no data had been collected. This is applicable to my research because my study area has quite a bit of high elevation land in it, and learning more about pollution transport and lichens in these kinds of systems is very useful. I would love to be able to make maps like these for my elemental analysis data.
