BIOLOGICAL INDICATOR OF AIR POLLUTION.pptx

BIOLOGICAL INDICATOR OF AIR POLLUTION - WOOD STORK, FROG, ALGAL BLOOMS, LICHENS

1. BIOLOGICAL INDICATOR OF AIR POLLUTION KAVIYALAKSHMI M ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

2. INTRODUCTION BIOINDICATOR ? An organism or biological response that reveals the presence of pollutants Certain organisms – sensitive to pollutants

3. EXAMPLES Toxins present – certain plants cannot be able to grow Monitoring population number Algae blooms Reduction in food sources Level of Liver enzymes in fish Changes in the function of nervous system in worms – soil pollution Stress protein released by microorganisms

4. WOOD STORK  The absence of wood storks in everglade habitats indicates that the climate is not conducive to abundant wading birdlife. Wood storks used to live in these wetlands by consuming small freshwater fish

5. FROGS Frogs have semi-permeable skin that needs to stay moist in order to breathe. Since they are susceptible to consuming chemical pollutants in their water, their skin makes them bioindicators for the health of their environment. Many frogs have life cycles that use both terrestrial and freshwater habitats, making them vulnerable to environmental stressors including temperature changes and UV radiation.

6. ALGAL BLOOMS Algal blooms may be a sign of a changing climate. Algal blooms may be caused by a rise in nutrients from sedimentation runoff. Natural seasonal changes in nutrient availability can also be linked to algal blooms. The abundance of algae in a given area can also be used to detect nutrient availability gradients in a body of water.

7. LICHENS Lichen is  a symbiotic association between algae and fungi . 

8. WHERE DO LICHENS GROW? 6–8% of Earth's land surface is covered by lichens. O ccur on a variety of substrates, each substrate must have the individual components in the right amounts that growing lichen needs. These requirements are: water, air, nutrients, light, and substrates.

9.   REQUIREMENTS

10. LICHENS

11. Lichens are injured by sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ). Rose (1975) has calculated that more than one-third of England and Wales has lost nearly all its epiphitic lichens, the most delicate shrubby lichens, largely due to the sulphur -dioxide emissions of coal-burning power plants LICHENS

12. The pollutant is carried in the atmosphere until rained out or deposited as dry particles or as gas. Sulfur dioxide combines with moisture in the atmosphere to form sulfurous acid (H 2 SO 3 ) or sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ). When this happens with rainwater, the result is acid rain . All these forms of sulfur are harmful to lichens and plants. LICHENS

13. Sulfur dioxide + Moisture Sulfurous acid (H 2 SO 3 ) or sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) ACID RAIN

14. THANK YOU