Heavy Metals Accumulation in Lichens Parmeliaceae and Mahogany Bark as an Indicator of Air and Pollution Levels in Several Locations in Bandung City
Putri Nurul Fitriyyah (a*), Taufikurahman (a)

a) School of Life and Technology, Bandung Institute of Technology
Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
*putrinurullfitriyyah[at]gmail.com

Abstract

Increasing number of motorized vehicles and industrial sector in Bandung city can be a source of air pollutants, one of the sources of air pollutants that very harmful to human health is heavy metal, so air quality monitoring is needed. Lichens and bark are known as biomonitor that can be used on a large area scale and accumulate pollutants over a long period of time. The purpose of this study is to determine the concentration of heavy metals accumulated by lichens and tree bark in the Bandung city, analyzing the influence of heavy metal accumulation on diversity and the area of lichens cover on tree trunk that can be used to determine air quality in several locations in Bandung city. In this study, lichens from mahogany tree and mahogany bark was collected using plot-less sampling at a height of at least 100 cm using a 20x32 cm2 quadrat size above the ground from 25 sampling stations that distribute at five locations in Bandung city, including city parks, urban forest park and bus station, then the sample was analyzed using AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry) to measure the concentration of heavy metals in lichens and bark samples. The results showed lichens and bark from Persib city park (PCP) containing the highest Cr (17.08 \mu g/Kg for- 30.03 \mu g/Kg) and Pb (24.38 \mu g/Kg- 15.49 \mu g/Kg), while lichens and bark from ir.H.Djuanda forest park (DFP) had the lowest Cr concentration (3.74 \mu g/Kg- 3.56 \mu g/Kg) and Pb (3.74 \mu g/Kg- 2.06 \mu g/Kg). The highest lichens diversity index with a moderate category is found in DFP (H^ = 1.39), while PCP has the lowest lichens diversity index (H^ = 0.02). On the DFP is found Parmotrema sp. which belongs to the sensitive category lichens, while Parmelia sp. found at all sampling sites. Based on the results of the PCA analysis, the accumulation of heavy metals in lichens and bark samples of tree trunks is influenced by environmental conditions, in this case the level of traffic density, and bark pH. The accum

Keywords: Lichens, Mahogany Bark, Lichens Diversity Index

Topic: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES