Transplants of Flavoparmelia caperata (L.) Hale were used to test possible relationships between chlorophyll a fluorescence (CaF) and ambient atmospheric conditions (temperature, precipitation, SO2 and NOx levels). Portions of the same thalli collected in a pristine site (A) of the Trieste Karst were exposed at that site, as the control, and in four other sites (B E) in NE Italy, near to pollution monitoring stations. These sites had been selected in order to provide similar two by two climatic conditions (sites B,C: more humid; D,E: drier) and air pollution load (sites B,D: low; C,E: high). Before exposure and after 43 and 90 days of exposure, CaF measurements were carried out in the laboratory under controlled conditions. A classification of meteorological and pollution parameters recorded during exposure substantially confirmed the differences between site couplets. After 90 days, samples from sites A (control) and B (with very low pollution load) showed only slightly reduced NPQ, qN, Fo, and Fm values. Samples from site D, with medium air pollution load, and sites C,E, with high air pollution loads, showed proportionally greater variation for most of the CaF parameters. A highly significant correlation was found between NPQ, qN, Fm, and NOx pollution but not with SO2 or O3. Effects of NOx on lichens and possible action mechanisms are discussed. The results strongly suggest that CaF measurements of lichen transplants can be a valid tool in biomonitoring studies.
