Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/84961

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/EJFR.22.52

KEYWORDS : herbs;mosses;nitrogen deposition;Scots pine;shrubs

The study compared the reaction of different organism groups to nitrogen pollution near a nitrogen factory. Investigations were conducted in an area affected by a nitrogen fertilizer factory (JSC Achema), in central Lithuania. The study was performed in eight permanent plots established for monitoring purposes at different distances (from 2 to 20 km) from the factory, mainly in a prevailing northeast wind direction. The vascular plants, bryophytes and fungi, including lichens, were recorded. The species number of the different organism groups reacted differently to the distance from the factory. The species number of lichens and fungi increased with increasing distance from the nitrogen factory. The number of species of vascular plants was highest near the factory. The number of bryophytes did not correlate with the distance from the factory. Nitrophilic species, Chelidonium majus, Rubus idaeus, Sambucus rasemosa, and Impatiens parviflora, were most common, especially near the factory. A majority of the macrolichens, including epixylic species, reacted extremely negatively to NO2 and NH3, and species richness and abundance increased significantly farther from the air pollution source. Fungi did not react significantly to higher NH3 or NO2 concentrations in the air, and the distance from the factory was not an important variable.