Lichen transplants as biological indicators of SO2 air pollution in Copenhagen

It is concluded from the high correlation between visible transplant damage and SO2 levels, that SO2 pollution gradients can be sufficiently described by means of the lichen transplantation method. The transplanted lichen species should be chosenon the basis of its SO2 sensitivity, this being neither too high nor too low in relation to the average SO2 level of the area under investigation. A description of the existing lichen vegetation or a knowledge of the SO2 variation in the area should thus precede any transplantation experiments.Hy-pogymnia physodes, which was also used successfully in transplantation experiments in Oslo (KROG & BRANDTH, 1975), showed sufficient variation in degree of damage after 6 months of transplantation in the Copenhagen area to be a useful indicator of SO2 air pollution levels. Thus, our data suggest that Hypogymnia physodes is a suitable organism for use in future transplantation experiments on air pollution levels in metropolitan areas in southern Scandinavia.