Fig 1 - uploaded by Matthew S Landis
Content may be subject to copyright.
Map depicting the location of the 2008 and 2014 lichen collection sites selected for multi-element analysis and the areal footprint of the 2014 oil sand production surface disturbance area. Note: Topography range is from 250 to 800 m ASL within the study domain.
Source publication
Temporal and spatial atmospheric deposition trends of elements to the boreal forest surrounding bitumen production operations in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR), Alberta, Canada were investigated as part of a long-term lichen bioindicator study. The study focused on eight elements (sulfur, nitrogen, aluminum, calcium, iron, nickel, strontium,...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... transects centered between the Suncor and Syncrude upgrader stacks (Appendix Fig. B.1;Berryman et al., 2004), (ii) the 2004/2011/2017 campaigns were conducted at WBEA-TEEM FHM sites as part of the standard monitoring program (CE Jones, 2006;Clair and Percy, 2015), and (iii) the 2008 and 2014 studies utilized a scaled (nested) grid approach ( Fig. 1; Berryman et al., 2010;Edgerton et al., 2012;Landis et al., 2019a). The approach in the 2002,2008, and 2014 studies was to collect samples from a higher density of sites closest to the major surface mining and processing operations where steep deposition gradients were expected and to decrease sampling density further away from the ...
Context 2
... of the eight target elemental concentrations (TN, TS, Al, Ca, Ni, V, Fe, Sr) in H. physodes was used to elucidate spatial atmospheric deposition patterns and evaluate temporal change in the AOSR. Since the lichen sample collection was point-wise and the same locations were not all resampled during the two large sampling campaigns (2008 and 2014; Fig. 1), lichen concentration data was interpolated across the entire spatial domain and gridded mean concentrations were calculated using ESRI (Redlands, CA) ArcGIS software v.10.6.1. Both non-geostatistical and geostatistical (inverse distance weighting, ordinary kriging, ordinary cokriging, empirical Bayesian kriging) models were evaluated ...
Context 3
... representing the four major oil sand production emission source influences (oil sand mining, bitumen upgrading, petroleum coke production and storage, limestone quarrying and crushing) were developed and evaluated for significance in reducing the dominant regional atmospheric deposition field for each collection year. All lichen sampling sites (Fig. 1) combined with a set of 2688 (56 × 48) equally spaced grid points (Appendix Fig. B.4) were used to create an array of points across the AOSR domain and an annual production influence (PI) surface, a dimensionless measure of the effect of each local surface oil sand production emission source type on each point was calculated using Eq. ...
Context 4
... near-field oil sand production and transportation sources (e.g., mine haul roads, unpaved highways). The Al concentration at distal site 2001 (Fig. 3f) also significantly (p = 0.027) increased between 2004 (0.62 mg g −1 ) and 2017 (1.02 mg g −1 ), which was consistent with similar significant trends at some of the other distal sites (Appendix Fig. B.12). The magnitude of change at the 2001 distal site was almost an order of magnitude lower (~0.03 mg g −1 y −1 ) than rate of change at site 1004 (~0.3 mg g −1 y −1 ) consistent with the observed exponential decrease in atmospheric deposition of coarse fraction particulate matter as a function of distance from the closest surface oil sand ...
Context 5
... while EBK model estimates were utilized for Ca and Sr. Interpolation maps were generated from the geostatistical models to provide a visual representation of the regional atmospheric deposition patterns for the target elements, and gridded zonal mean concentrations were calculated for the evaluation of spatial and temporal change across the AOSR (Figs. 4-8; Appendix Figs. B.15-17). Due to substantial differences in the absolute distribution and range of elemental concentrations between the 2008 and 2014 lichen collections, isopleth solid contours of the final interpolation maps (Figs. 4-8a-b; Appendix Figs. B.15-17a-b) were color-scaled in order to present the best visual spatial representation of the deposition ...
Context 6
... spatial pattern of TS concentrations in lichen retained its general shape, but the area of maximum concentration increased in size between 2008 (Fig. 4a) and 2014 (Fig. 4b). The observed increases in TS concentrations were significant for every grid cell within the domain ( Fig. 4e; Appendix Fig. B.18a) with the most dramatic increases ranging from 44 to 88% in the central nested grid spaces (D4, E4, E5) in close proximity to the largest surface oil sand mines and bitumen upgrading operations. This likely ...
Context 7
... spatial pattern of TS concentrations in lichen retained its general shape, but the area of maximum concentration increased in size between 2008 (Fig. 4a) and 2014 (Fig. 4b). The observed increases in TS concentrations were significant for every grid cell within the domain ( Fig. 4e; Appendix Fig. B.18a) with the most dramatic increases ranging from 44 to 88% in the central nested grid spaces (D4, E4, E5) in close proximity to the largest surface oil sand mines and bitumen upgrading operations. This likely reflects the expansion of mining operations and the resulting increases in bitumen extraction, and the amount of bitumen upgraded ...
Context 8
... general pattern of decreased TN concentrations in lichen between 2008 ( Fig. 5a) and 2014 (Fig. 5b) was evident for much of the domain, although the change was only significant in a single grid (F5) south of the main surface oil sand production operations amounting to a decrease of 20% ( Fig. 5e; Appendix Fig. B.18b). The dichotomy between the site-specific time series analysis suggesting generally increasing TN deposition between ...
Context 9
... general pattern of decreased TN concentrations in lichen between 2008 ( Fig. 5a) and 2014 (Fig. 5b) was evident for much of the domain, although the change was only significant in a single grid (F5) south of the main surface oil sand production operations amounting to a decrease of 20% ( Fig. 5e; Appendix Fig. B.18b). The dichotomy between the site-specific time series analysis suggesting generally increasing TN deposition between 2004 and 2017 and the spatially resolved gridded analysis is due solely to the higher 2008 campaign sample results (Appendix D). The 2008 TN results may be the result of regional/ synoptic meteorological conditions ...
Context 10
... tracers for soil, haul road, and tailings fugitive dust in the AOSR ( Landis et al., 2012;Landis et al., 2017), Al and Fe concentrations in lichen expanded in extent from the central surface mining operations in 2008 ( Fig. 6a; Appendix Fig. B.15a) to 2014 ( Fig. 6b; Appendix Fig. B.15b). A new area of elevated concentrations in the southern portion of the domain adjacent to the roadway network between Anzac and Conklin in an area containing in situ production sources was observed ( Fig. 6b; Appendix Fig. B.15b) as described in Landis et al., 2019a, however the increase was not ...
Context 11
... tracers for soil, haul road, and tailings fugitive dust in the AOSR ( Landis et al., 2012;Landis et al., 2017), Al and Fe concentrations in lichen expanded in extent from the central surface mining operations in 2008 ( Fig. 6a; Appendix Fig. B.15a) to 2014 ( Fig. 6b; Appendix Fig. B.15b). A new area of elevated concentrations in the southern portion of the domain adjacent to the roadway network between Anzac and Conklin in an area containing in situ production sources was observed ( Fig. 6b; Appendix Fig. B.15b) as described in Landis et al., 2019a, however the increase was not significant in the associated grids (H4, ...
Context 12
... lichen expanded in extent from the central surface mining operations in 2008 ( Fig. 6a; Appendix Fig. B.15a) to 2014 ( Fig. 6b; Appendix Fig. B.15b). A new area of elevated concentrations in the southern portion of the domain adjacent to the roadway network between Anzac and Conklin in an area containing in situ production sources was observed ( Fig. 6b; Appendix Fig. B.15b) as described in Landis et al., 2019a, however the increase was not significant in the associated grids (H4, H5). Gridded areas of significant increase corresponded to (i) the central area of the modeling domain, where surface production activities increased between the two years ( ...
Context 13
... and V are petrogenic elements that are common tracer species for surface oil sand mining, bitumen upgrading, and oil combustion in the AOSR ( Landis et al., 2012;Landis et al., 2017;Philips-Smith et al., 2017;Landis et al., 2019a: Landis et al., 2019b). These elements show a general spreading in spatial extent between 2008 (Appendix Fig. B.16a; Fig. 7a) and 2014 (Appendix Fig. B.16b; Fig. 7b) likely reflecting both expansion of mining operations and the increase in the amount of bitumen upgraded between 2008 and 2014. Ni concentrations significantly increased primarily along a northwest -southeast transect through the AOSR. Ni increases in the central portion of the domain associated ...
Context 14
... that are common tracer species for surface oil sand mining, bitumen upgrading, and oil combustion in the AOSR ( Landis et al., 2012;Landis et al., 2017;Philips-Smith et al., 2017;Landis et al., 2019a: Landis et al., 2019b). These elements show a general spreading in spatial extent between 2008 (Appendix Fig. B.16a; Fig. 7a) and 2014 (Appendix Fig. B.16b; Fig. 7b) likely reflecting both expansion of mining operations and the increase in the amount of bitumen upgraded between 2008 and 2014. Ni concentrations significantly increased primarily along a northwest -southeast transect through the AOSR. Ni increases in the central portion of the domain associated with surface oil sand production ...
Context 15
... activities ranged from 23% (D4) to 35% (F5), but increased the most in the far western portion of the AOSR (B1, C1, D1) ranging from 42 to 52% (Appendix Fig. B.16e; Appendix Fig. B.18e). V concentrations significantly increased in (i) the central area of the modeling domain, where surface production activities increased between the two years ( Fig. 7e; Appendix Fig. B.18f) between 42 and 114%, and (ii) in the southeast portion of the domain in grids F7 and G7 resulting in zonal mean lichen concentration increases between 74 and ...
Context 16
... parking and other surface activities in the southeast portion of the sampling domain along the highway corridor between Fort McMurray and Conklin. However, we were unable to detect the significance of the southern domain change in our gridded analysis. In contrast, Ca concentration in lichen significantly increased in grid cell C5 (Fig. 8e) Fig. B.17b) in grids to both the east (F7, G7; 60-68%) and west (D3, E3, F4, G4; 43-51%) of a. 2008 ...
Context 17
... zonal mean lichen element concentrations were then calculated for the two comprehensive modeling years (2008,2014) and evaluated for spatial and temporal change. Lichen TS concentrations significantly increased in every grid cell within the domain with the largest increases in the central valley in close proximity to the largest surface oil sand production operations, which is contrary to the regional SO 2 emissions inventory which indicates a reduction in emissions (Foster et al., 2019). The areal extent of fugitive dust element deposition a. 2008 generally increased, but the greatest relative increases were observed in the outer grids of the enhanced deposition field reflecting new surface mining activity. ...
Citations
... statistical software. This software is widely used in the analysis of physicochemical parameters and ion concentrations in groundwater due to its ability to perform statistical analyses, and it has been employed in various other studies (Azadi and Baninemeh 2022;Landis et al., 2019;Tiruneh et al., 2021). ...
This study assessed groundwater quality and associated risks in a semi-arid region located in a city in the
Northern zone of Mexico. To conduct this study, we collected 92 groundwater samples and analyzed 14 physicochemical
parameters across 18 sectors.
... Oil sands development causes complex, i.e., overlapping and interacting, stressors, including habitat loss, fragmentation, and alteration which in turn influence plant and animal populations and behaviours (Dabros et al., 2018;Roberts et al., 2021;Rooney et al., 2012). Other stressors include noise, odour, and dust (Alberta Energy Regulator, 2007Landis et al., 2019), changes in hydrological regimes, contamination of ground and surface water (Fennell and Arciszewski, 2019), and atmospheric deposition of contaminants Landis et al., 2019;Wieder et al., 2021). Assessment of impacts on Indigenous Rights has been largely absent but, for some projects, will now be considered under Canada's new Impact Assessment Act (2019). ...
... Oil sands development causes complex, i.e., overlapping and interacting, stressors, including habitat loss, fragmentation, and alteration which in turn influence plant and animal populations and behaviours (Dabros et al., 2018;Roberts et al., 2021;Rooney et al., 2012). Other stressors include noise, odour, and dust (Alberta Energy Regulator, 2007Landis et al., 2019), changes in hydrological regimes, contamination of ground and surface water (Fennell and Arciszewski, 2019), and atmospheric deposition of contaminants Landis et al., 2019;Wieder et al., 2021). Assessment of impacts on Indigenous Rights has been largely absent but, for some projects, will now be considered under Canada's new Impact Assessment Act (2019). ...
... Aerial or atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, base cations, trace elements (TE[s]) and various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, often collectively referred to as "contaminants", is of biological and social concern in the OSR (Roberts et al., 2021). Advancements in technology since the 1980s have reduced the amount of TEs emitted by oil sands processing, but the rate of dust deposition continues to be highest near surface mines and upgraders (Cooke et al., 2017;Landis et al., 2019;Mullan-Boudreau et al., 2017). Today, fugitive dust is likely the major source of TEs being deposited to receiving ecosystems in the OSR (Cooke et al., 2017;Gopalapillai et al., 2019;Shotyk et al., 2016), comprising both naturally occurring and anthropogenic-derived TEs. ...
Accessible populations of plants are critical to the meaningful exercise of Aboriginal and treaty rights in Canada. In the oil sands region of Alberta, populations of culturally significant plant species overlap with extensive oil and gas development. This has led to a host of questions and concerns related to plant health and integrity from both Indigenous communities and western scientists. Here, we assessed trace element concentrations in the northern pitcher-plant (tsala' t'ile; Sarracenia purpurea L.) with a focus on elements associated with fugitive dust and bitumen. Plant leaves were collected using clean methods and washed prior to analyses in an ultra-clean, metal-free laboratory. Pitcher-plant was an excellent model for assessing the impacts of industrial development on a culturally important, vulnerable species. Although concentrations of trace elements in pitcher-plant were low and not indicative of a toxicological concern, we saw clear dust signatures in plant tissues related to road and surface mine proximity. Elements associated with fugitive dust and bitumen extraction declined exponentially with increasing distance from a surface mine, a well-established regional pattern. However, our analyses also captured localized spikes in trace element concentrations within 300 m of unpaved roads. These local patterns are more poorly quantified at the regional scale but are indicative of the burden to Indigenous harvesters wishing to access plant populations that are not impacted by dust. Further work to directly quantify dust loads on culturally significant plants will help to define the amount of harvesting area lost to Indigenous communities due to dust impacts.
... An exploratory spatial analysis for individual elements did not return consistent results, underscoring the need for dimension reduction afforded by multivariate statistical methods to help identify signals and spatial patterns. Without replicate samples, we rely on work by Landis, Berryman, et al. (2019), who analyzed samples of Hypogymnia physodes to produce a general breakdown of variability attributable to (i) environmental differences and deposition gradients, accounting for inter-site variability (>85%); ii) individual lichen characteristics (thallus size, age, metabolic factors) that account for intra-site variability; and (iii) laboratory and ICP measurement error, resulting in replicate variability (<1%). ...
Biomonitoring studies evaluating air quality via airborne element accumulation patterns in lichens typically control variability by focusing on narrow geographic regions and short time windows. Using samples of the widespread “rock‐posy” lichen sampled across the Intermountain Region of the United States, we investigate whether accumulation patterns of generic pollution sources are detectable on broad geographic and temporal scales. We develop a novel Bayesian multivariate receptor modeling (BMRM) approach that sharpens detection and discrimination of candidate pollution sources through (i) regularization of source contributions to each sample and (ii) incorporating estimated lichen secondary chemistry as a factor. Through a simulation study, we demonstrate a distinct advantage in shrinking contributions when they are truly sparse, as would be expected with heterogeneous samples from dispersed collection sites. We contrast analyses employing both standard and sparse BMRMs, and positive matrix factorization (PMF). The sparse model better maintains source identity, as specified though informative prior distributions on elemental profiles. We advocate quantitative profile matching, which reveals that PMF primarily captures variations of the baseline profile for lichen secondary chemistry. Both PMF and BMRM results suggest that the most detectable signatures relate to aeolian dust deposition, while spatial patterns hint at sporadic anthropogenic influence.
... Samples of the lichen Hypogymnia physodes were collected between 2002 and 2017 within a radius of approximately 150 km of an oil sands extraction site in Canada. Increased levels of bioaccumulated MTE (aluminium, nickel, strontium, vanadium) in these lichens were observed, these MTE were transported from the oil sands extraction site and dispersed by wind [49]. ...
Atmospheric contamination by metallic trace elements emitted by various human activities constitutes an important threat to human and environmental health. This study aims to determine metal accumulation and the sources of air metallic pollution in the Safi urban-industrial area using lichens as biomonitors. Ten trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Ti, V and Zn) concentrations and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁷Pb isotopic ratios were analyzed by ICP-MS in four lichen species: Xanthoria Parietina, Ramalina Lacera, Xanthoria Calcicola and Ramalina Pollinaria. The results showed significant differences among study sites for most elements with higher concentrations in the industrial, urban and peri-urban sites compared to the reference site chosen as a natural rural area far from any human activities. Significant differences were found between saxicolous and corticolous species especially for Cd, Cu and Zn. The values of Zn/Cu, Zn/Pb and Pb isotope ratios measured in lichens revealed that vehicular traffic and industrial emissions are the main sources of atmospheric Pb contamination. Other anthropic activities (waste incineration, artisanal pottery …) might be the source of other trace metal elements accumulated by lichens. Airborne contaminants in Safi appear to be exported from their sources by air mass movements driven by the regional wind profile.
... shows PMF and CMB results for percent contribution to ∑PAHs or ∑PACs loadings calculated using lichen (Landis et al. 2019c) and moss or peat samples (Zhang et al. 2016) collected throughout the AOSR. Contribution from fugitive dust ranged from 34-69% throughout the AOSR, and increased to 70% (∑PAHs) and 82% ...
... As shown in Figure 5b, Landis et al. (2019c) reported TE mass from lichen samples using PMF. The contribution of fugitive dust from petcoke piles (11%), haul roads (36%), and raw oil sands (31%) were substantial at sites within 25 km of production facilities (n = 56), with contributions from other factors being smaller (<6% each). ...
... Through the WBEA TEEM program, epiphytic lichen samples were collected in the AOSR in 2002, 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017. While lichen measurements cannot be used to calculate deposition fluxes (mass per area) they are an effective biomonitor of Accepted Article spatial and temporal deposition patterns and are useful for conducting source apportionment studies (Landis et al. , 2019b(Landis et al. , 2019cGraney et al. 2017). Spatial patterns of PACs concentrations in lichen are consistent with snowpack data, showing a rapid decline with increasing distance from OS facilities to ~40km (Studabaker et al. 2012;Landis et al. 2019bLandis et al. , 2019c. ...
This review is part of a series synthesizing peer-reviewed literature from the last decade on environmental monitoring in the oil sands region (OSR) of northeastern Alberta. This paper focuses on atmospheric emissions, air quality, and deposition in and downwind of the OSR. The vast majority of published monitoring and research activities were concentrated in the surface-mineable region in the Athabasca OSR. Substantial progress has been made on understanding oil sands (OS)-related emission sources using multiple approaches: airborne measurements, satellite measurements, source emission testing, deterministic modeling, and source apportionment modeling. These approaches generally yield consistent results, indicating OS-related sources are regional contributors to nearly all air pollutants. Most pollutants exhibit enhanced air concentrations within ~20 km of surface-mining activities, with some enhanced >100 km downwind. Some pollutants (e.g., sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides) undergo transformations as they are transported through the atmosphere. Deposition rates of OS-related substances primarily emitted as fugitive dust are enhanced within ~30 km of surface-mining activities, whereas gaseous and fine particulate emissions have a more diffuse deposition enhancement pattern extending hundreds of km downwind. In general, air quality guidelines are not exceeded, although these single-pollutant thresholds are not comprehensive indicators of air quality. Odour events have occurred in communities near OS industrial activities, although it can be difficult to attribute events to specific pollutants or sources. Nitrogen, sulphur, polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) and base cations from OS sources occur in the environment, but explicit and deleterious responses of organisms to these pollutants is not as apparent across all study environments; details of biological monitoring are further discussed in other papers from this special issue. However, modelling of critical load exceedances suggests that at continued emissions levels, ecological change may potentially occur in the future. Knowledge gaps, and recommendations for future work to address these gaps, are also presented.
... However, the mean coordinates also suggest that this description is limited to data collected from 2011 to 2014 and may also explain some discrepancies in the peer-reviewed literature when the AR6 coordinate is used to orient spatial gradients (Gopalapillai et al., 2019;Manzano et al., 2016;Summers et al., 2016). Our analyses further suggest, similar to other work already carried out (e.g., Gopalapillai et al., 2019;Kirk et al., 2014;Landis, Berryman, et al., 2019;Manzano et al., 2016;Willis et al., 2018), that shifting to geospatial approaches better suited for the monitoring objectives may be necessary. The analyses further suggest that the use of spatial coordinates to describe the configuration of facilities on the landscape be more deliberate (e.g., Gopalapillai Identifying industrial sources using facility-level fuel and production data. ...
We synthesize the information available from the peer‐reviewed literature on the ecological status of lakes and rivers in the Oil Sands Region (OSR) of Canada. The majority of the research from the OSR has been done in or near the minable region and has examined the concentrations, flux, or enrichment of contaminants of concern (CoCs). Proximity to oil sands facilities and the beginning of commercial activities tends to be associated with greater estimates of CoCs across studies. Research suggests greater measurements of CoCs are typically associated with wind‐blown dust, but other sources also contribute. Exploratory analyses further suggest relationships with facility production and fuel use data. Exceedances of environmental quality guidelines for CoCs are also reported in lake sediments, but there are no indications of toxicity including those within the areas of the greatest atmospheric deposition. Instead, primary production has increased in most lakes over time. Spatial differences are observed in streams, but causal relationships with industrial activity are often confounded by substantial natural influences. Despite this, there may be signals associated with site preparation for new mines, potential persistent differences, and a potential role of petroleum coke used as fuel on some indices of health in fish captured in the Steepbank River. There is also evidence of improvements in the ecological condition of some rivers. Despite the volume of material available, much of the work remains temporally, spatially, or technically isolated. Overcoming the isolation of studies would enhance the utility of information available for the region, but additional recommendations for improving monitoring can be made, such as a shift to site‐specific analyses in streams and further use of industry‐reported data. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... Deposition will be higher in winter because nearby monitors show higher winter levels of NO x concentrations in the air associated with inversions ( Fig. S2), in contrast to the summer inversions observed in similar studies from California (Fenn & Poth 2004). 2. Lichen samples will have consistent N and S concentrations within sites, allowing differentiation of spatial patterns as has been observed in previous studies , Landis et al. 2019. N and S concentrations will be correlated across lichen species (Root et al. 2013, Will-Wolf et al. 2017. ...
... Our within-plot coefficients between versus within-plot coefficient of variation ratio for our strongest indicator species (M. exasperatula) was 2.8 as compared with 6.9 and 4.0 in nearby Wyoming and>7 in the Athabasca Oil Sands region in northern Alberta (Landis et al. 2019). ...
... Whereas these two regions experience poor air quality during winter inversions (Four Corners Air Quality Task Force 2007, Baasandorj 2018), we observed deposition to be highest in summer. Lichen N and S concentrations were more variable within plots than had previously been reported , Landis et al. 2019. The predominance of dry deposition in the study areas and the timing of rainfall may complicate lichen absorption of nutrients. ...
Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) deposition can negatively affect ecosystem functions and lichen biomonitors can be a cost-effective way to monitor air pollution exposure across the landscape. Interior dry forests of the southwestern United States face increasing development pressures; however, this region differs from others with well-developed biomonitoring programs in having drier climates and a greater fraction of deposition delivered in dry forms. We measured throughfall N and S deposition at 12 sites in Utah and 10 in New Mexico and co-located collection of 6 lichen species. Throughfall N deposition ranged from 0.76 to 6.96 kg/ha/year and S deposition from 0.57 to 1.44 kg/ha/year with elevated levels near human development that were not predicted by commonly used simulation models. Throughfall N was 4.6 and 1.6 times higher in summer compared with fall-spring in Utah and New Mexico and S deposition was 3.9 and 1.8 times higher in summer. Lichen N and S concentrations ranged from 0.97 to 2.7% and 0.09 to 0.33%. Replicate samples within plots showed high variability in N and S concentrations with within-plot coefficients of variation for N ranging between 5 and 10% and for S between 7 and 15%. In Utah, N and S concentrations in lichen species were correlated with each other in most cases, with R² ranging from 0.52 to 0.85. N concentrations in Melanohalea exasperatula and Melanohalea subolivacea could be correlated with average annual throughfall N deposition in Utah (R² = 0.58 and 0.31). Those relationships were improved by focusing on deposition in fall-spring prior to lichen sampling in Utah (R² for M. exasperatula, M. subolivacea, and X. montana = 0.59, 0.42, and 0.28). In New Mexico, lichens exhibited greater coefficients of variability within plots than between plots and could not be correlated with throughfall N deposition. In neither study area was S correlated between lichens and throughfall deposition, which may be the result of low S deposition over a narrow deposition range or complex lichen assimilation of S. Lichen biomonitoring for N deposition in the region shows promise, but could potentially be improved by sampling more thalli to reduce within-plot variability, repeated lichen collection synchronized with throughfall changeouts to explore temporal variability, and washing lichen collections to distinguish N and S that has been incorporated by the thalli from dry deposition that may accumulate on lichen surfaces.
... The use of PCA and HCA, in conjunction with Pearson's correlation, made possible to characterize the samples as their elemental composition, as well as to identify the main sources of the ions that compose them. It was reported that the ionic composition of the samples of PM is mainly characterized by [232,233] K lichen, bromeliad urban metabolitic function [232] Mn moss, lichen urban metabolitic function [225] Pb lichen, moss urban leaded gasoline, aviation [226,234] Hg, Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni 206 Pb/ 207 Pb, 208 Pb/ 207 Pb lichen, bromeliad, moss transboundary LRTAP direction [225,226,232] Al, Fe, Pb, Zn lichen urban steel industry [226] S, Mg, Fe, Sr, Ba, Pb, Cr, Br, Zn, Cu, Ca moss, lichen vulcanos vulcanos ashes [235][236][237] As, Sb, S, Se, Tl, Bi moss vulcanos fumarolic fields (vulcanos) [236,238] Hg, Co, Cr, Fe, Ni moss, vegetative short shoots industrial chlor-alkali plant [229,239] Cr, Ni, Zn moss industrial concrete factory [229] Zn, Mn, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cr moss, lichen urban wearing of vehicle [240,241] Ni, V moss, epiphytic lichen industrial oil refinery, bitumen production [242,243] 40 K, 210 Pb, 137 Cs moss urban radioactivity [244] Cu, As, Cd, Sb, Hg, Ba, Pb, V, Co lichen, plant shoots, moss industrial smelters, mining activities, leathering activities [245][246][247][248][249][250] Rare earth elements moss industrial coal [201] sources as burning of fuel, gas-particle conversion, and resuspension of soil dust. It is reasonable to mention that the use of contamination indexes, combined with pattern recognition techniques, is relevant to the classification of similarities and trends in environmental samples, as well as to identify possible sources that contribute to environment composition. ...
... [236,238] Contamination from oil production generally produces Ni and V emissions, being more concentrated in sites where solid petroleum derivative, such as bitumen, is prospected, with a significant increase from 2008 to 2014. [243] Emerging contaminants such as rare earth elements have also been associated with coal prospection and production. [201] Final considerations Currently, atmospheric pollution has become one of the most important issues in environmental science around the world. ...
Atmospheric pollution has been considered one of the most important topics in environmental science once it can be related to the incidence of respiratory diseases, climate change, and others. Knowing the composition of this complex and variable mixture of gases and particulate matter is crucial to understand the damages it causes, help establish limit levels, reduce emissions, and mitigate risks. In this work, the current scenario of the legislation and guideline values for indoor and outdoor atmospheric parameters will be reviewed, focusing on the inorganic and organic compositions of particulate matter and on biomonitoring. Considering the concentration level of the contaminants in air and the physical aspects (meteorological conditions) involved in the dispersion of these contaminants, different approaches for air sampling and analysis have been developed in recent years. Finally, this review presents the importance of data analysis, whose main objective is to transform analytical results into reliable information about the significance of anthropic activities in air pollution and its possible sources. This information is a useful tool to help the government implement actions against atmospheric air pollution.
... Lichens have long been recognized as potentially useful indicators of atmospheric N and S pollution (e.g. Hawksworth & Rose, 1976;Pinho et al., 2017;Will-Wolf et al., 2017) as well as within the Alberta sands region (e.g., Graney et al., 2017;Landis et al., 2012Landis et al., , 2019. Evernia mesomorpha has been shown to be very sensitive to even shortterm exposure to low doses of SO 2 , which reduces net CO 2 assimilation and respiration rates as well as protein and lipid biosynthesis (e.g., Huebert et al., 1985;Malhotra & Khan, 1985). ...
Increasing gaseous emissions of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) associated with oil sands development in northern Alberta (Canada) has led to changing regional wet and dry N and S deposition regimes. We assessed the potential for using bog plant/lichen tissue chemistry (N and S concentrations, C:N and C:S ratios, in 10 plant/lichen species) to monitor changing atmospheric N and S deposition through sampling at five bog sites, 3–6 times per growing season from 2009 to 2016. During this 8-year period, oil sands N emissions steadily increased, while S emissions steadily decreased. We examined the following: (1) whether each species showed changes in tissue chemistry with increasing distance from the Syncrude and Suncor upgrader stacks (the two largest point sources of N and S emissions); (2) whether tissue chemistry changed over the 8 year period in ways that were consistent with increasing N and decreasing S emissions from oil sands facilities; and (3) whether tissue chemistry was correlated with growing season wet deposition of NH 4 ⁺ -N, NO 3 ⁻ -N, or SO 4 ²⁻ -S. Based on these criteria, the best biomonitors of a changing N deposition regime were Evernia mesomorpha , Sphagnum fuscum , and Vaccinium oxycoccos . The best biomonitors of a changing S deposition regime were Evernia mesomorpha , Cladonia mitis , Sphagnum fuscum , Sphagnum capillifolium , Vaccinium oxycoccos , and Picea mariana . Changing N and S deposition regimes in the oil sands region appear to be influencing N and S cycling in what once were pristine ombrotrophic bogs, to the extent that these bogs may effectively monitor future spatial and temporal patterns of deposition.
... 28 Vanadium, which is the most enriched metal in crude oils 19 and highly abundant in AOSR bitumen, has been released into the receiving environment from extraction and processing activities, including surface mining, bitumen upgrading, oil combustion, and the stockpiling of petroleum coke. 26,27,29,30 The previously collected samples from terrestrial environmental monitoring provided an opportunity to measure δ 51 V in a variety of matrices that were collected with varying distance from oil sands mines and contained a range of vanadium concentrations. ...
... Lichens are widely used indicators of air pollution (including in the AOSR) because they obtain their nutrients from the atmosphere. 29 Composite samples of lichens growing on trees (containing multiple epiphytic species) were collected at 11 sites located 9−86 km from the nearest AOSR bitumen upgrader (Figure 1). At each site, lichens were collected by hand with nonpowdered gloves from several trees to make a composite sample, and debris (e.g., sticks and leaves) was removed from samples in the laboratory. ...
... Elevated elemental concentrations in lichens, including vanadium and petrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, have been reported previously in the AOSR, and this pattern was attributed to emissions from oil sands mining operations. 29,43,44 However, lichen δ 51 V values were relatively homogeneous (−0.9 ± 0.1‰) across the concentration gradient and lower but within the analytical error of the range in δ 51 V for the bulk continental crust (Figure 3). The concentration of aluminum (an abundant crustal element) in lichens was strongly correlated with their vanadium concentration (Pearson r = 0.98, p < 0.001, n = 11) and aluminum concentration decreased with distance from oil sands upgraders (log-linear regression, r adj 2 = 0.55, p = 0.005, n = 11) (Figure 3). ...
Vanadium, a potentially toxic metal, is enriched in the environment from anthropogenic releases, particularly during fossil fuel production and use and steel manufacturing. Metal stable isotopes are sophisticated tools to trace pollution; however, only recent analytical advances have allowed for the accurate and precise measurement of vanadium isotope ratios (δ51V). To examine its potential as a tracer in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, δ51V was measured in soil, plant, lichen, marten, and lake sediment from sites near vanadium emissions at oil sands mines (Alberta, Canada) and in the sediment and biota (algae, zooplankton, fish) from a remote subarctic lake (Northwest Territories, Canada). Samples from Alberta had distinct δ51V values with marten liver the lowest (-1.7 ± 0.3‰), followed by lichen (-0.9 ± 0.1‰), soil (-0.7 ± 0.1‰), sediment (-0.5 ± 0.2‰), and plant root (-0.3 ± 0.2‰). Average values were lower than Alberta bitumen and petroleum coke (-0.1 ± 0.1‰). Plant roots had systematically higher δ51V than the soil from which they grew (Δ51Vplant-soil = 0.4 ± 0.1‰), while δ51V of lichen and aquatic biota were lower (0.1-0.3‰) than likely crustal sources. These δ51V measurements in terrestrial and aquatic biota demonstrate promise for tracer applications, although further study of its biological fractionation is needed.
