The Baltic Sea Project

ESTIMATION OF AIR QUALITY USING BIOINDICATORS
Test: condition of fir trees, lichens, tar spot fungus – protocol to be sent to co-ordinator

Date: 08.09.2011
School: Kadrina Secondary School
Teacher: Siret Pung (siret.pung@gmail.com)
Class/Group: Form10; Renata Lopetaite
Address: Rakvere tee 4, Kadrina 45201, Lääne-Virumaa, Estonia

Natural conditions and topographical situation (coastal, inland, mountain, plain): inland; Kallukse
Possible local source of pollution: none

I  Fir trees

1, 2, 3. Investigating forest damage in fir trees

Name of the tree (fir, spruce or pine): Spruce

Tree no.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Mean value	
1. Needle loss class (1, 2, 3)	
1	
1	
2	
1	
1	
1	
1	
1	
1	
1	
1	
2. No. generations of needles	
5	
2	
2,5	
4	
3	
5	
4	
2,5	
3	
4	
3,5	
3. Occurrence of fear shoots (1, 2, 3)	
2	
1	
1	
1	
1	
2	
1	
1	
1	
1	
1	

II  Lichen

1. Counting the number of kinds of different types of lichen

Name of the tree (English or Latin name): Alnus incana

Tree no.	No. kinds of crustose lichen	No. kinds of foliose lichen	No. kinds of fructicose lichen	Zone	
1
	
2	
3	
1	
4	
2
	
0	
2	
1	
3	
3
	
3	
2	
0	
3	
4
	
3	
3	
1	
4	
5
	
                  1	     
                  1	
                  1	
          3	
			Mean value zone:	
         3	

2. Determining the degree of coverage of the lichen

Name of the tree (English or Latin name): Alnus incana

Tree no.	Coverage of crustose lichen in %	Coverage of foliose lichen in %	Coverage of fructicose lichen in %	Total coverage of the whole overhead film in %	
1
	
10	
80	
0	
90	
2
	
3	
94	
0	
97	
3
	
1	
74	
0	
75	
4
	
0	
70	
0	
70	
5
	
                  5	
                 79	
                   1	
                  85	
			Mean value :	                 
                83,4
	
			Zone :	
                 4

III.  Tar Spot Fungus

Name of the maple tree (English or Latin name): Acer platanoides

Zone: 3

IV Discussion of the result and the state of the air on a separate paper.

The area we examined is situated in my homeplace (a village called Leikude) in the forest at Kallukse nature reserve. There are no big roads nearby or many houses. The road is of gravel. There are no sources of air pollution. The research of both conifer and lichen indicate clean air. Fructicose lichen grow here. Clean air also proven by Tar Spot Fungus (Rhytisma acerianum) on maples.