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.
•Occur 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. WATER AIR
NITROGEN
CARBON
OXYGEN
LIGHT
SUBSTRATE
REQUIREMENTS

10. LICHENS

11. Lichens are injured by sulfur dioxide (SO2).
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 (H2SO3) or
sulfuric acid (H2SO4).
• 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 (H2SO3) or sulfuric acid
(H2SO4)
ACID RAIN

14. THANK YOU