Methods• Common species are collected in most localities in a

park.• More than one species per locality.• Thalli are collected from multiple hosts and aggregated.• Up to 20 g dry weight• Lichens are manually cleaned of debris, but not washed.• 4 g are ground to a powder and wet acid digested.• Tissues are analyzed by ICP-OES and ICP-MS.• Ash content determined if enough material.

Park Year Species Collection date Locality Region Lat Lon Al AsYELL 1998 BRFR 7/15/1998 Divide L N 44.9136 -111.0511 150 0.69YELL 1998 BRFR 7/15/1998 Divide L N 44.9136 -111.0511 139 0.55YELL 1998 BRFR 7/15/1998 Divide L N 44.9136 -111.0511 163 0.61YELL 1998 BRFR 7/24/1998 Dunraven N 44.7653 -110.4694 139 0.63YELL 1998 BRFR 7/24/1998 Dunraven N 44.7653 -110.4694 124 0.61YELL 1998 BRFR 7/24/1998 Dunraven N 44.7653 -110.4694 105 0.49YELL 1998 BRFR 8/6/1998 Lake Butte S 44.5114 -110.2747 165 0.88YELL 1998 BRFR 8/6/1998 Lake Butte S 44.5114 -110.2747 132 0.84YELL 1998 BRFR 8/6/1998 Lake Butte S 44.5114 -110.2747 143 0.81YELL 1998 BRFR 7/27/1998 Pebble Crk N 44.9597 -110.1194 112 0.50YELL 1998 BRFR 7/27/1998 Pebble Crk N 44.9597 -110.1194 111 0.41YELL 1998 BRFR 7/27/1998 Pebble Crk N 44.9597 -110.1194 110 0.56YELL 1998 BRFR 8/12/1998 Snake R S 44.1400 -110.6653 188 0.55YELL 1998 BRFR 8/12/1998 Snake R S 44.1400 -110.6653 225 0.70YELL 1998 BRFR 8/12/1998 Snake R S 44.1400 -110.6653 169 0.47YELL 1998 BRFR 8/6/1998 Yellowstone L S 44.4681 -110.4672 146 1.17YELL 1998 BRFR 8/6/1998 Yellowstone L S 44.4681 -110.4672 119 0.91YELL 1998 BRFR 8/6/1998 Yellowstone L S 44.4681 -110.4672 145 1.03YELL 1998 CLMI 8/4/1998 Biscuit Basin S 44.4853 -110.8561 1492 0.88YELL 1998 CLMI 8/4/1998 Biscuit Basin S 44.4853 -110.8561 1083 0.82YELL 1998 CLMI 8/4/1998 Biscuit Basin S 44.4853 -110.8561 1225 0.86YELL 1998 LEVU 7/15/1998 Divide L N 44.9136 -111.0511 380 0.71YELL 1998 LEVU 7/15/1998 Divide L N 44.9136 -111.0511 329 0.57YELL 1998 LEVU 7/15/1998 Divide L N 44.9136 -111.0511 259 0.62

Typical Spreadsheet

Aluminum Chromium Manganese Selenium

Arsenic Cobalt Mercury Sodium

Boron Copper Molybdenum Sulfur

Bromine Iron Nickel Titanium

Cadmium Lead Phosphorus Vanadium

Calcium Magnesium Potassium Zinc

Ash

Elements Studied

Summary of NPS Lichen DataNumber of Parks 28

Number of Localities 335

Number of Species/Locality Combinations

89

Number of Species 55

Number of Collections 2,159

Number of Years Sampled 18

Theoretical Number of Data Points

54,000

Species/locality combinations over time

y = 8.4011x - 16634

R2 = 0.9881

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Resampled Parks

• Acadia• Apostle Islands• George Washington Carver• Indiana Dunes• Isle Royale• Redwood• Sleeping Bear Dunes• Theodore Roosevelt• Voyageurs

Ten Most Collected SpeciesSpecies Number of

LocalitiesHypogymnia physodes 24

Cladina rangiferina 23

Evernia mesomorpha 21

Parmelia sulcata 17

Punctelia rudecta 7

Hypogymnia enteromorpha 6

Cladina stellaris 4

Cladina subtenuis 4

Letharia vulpina 4

Platismatia glauca 4

Uses of NPS Lichen Data

• Spatial and temporal patterns and trends

• Large-scale patterns of elements

• Differences between species

• Establishment of elemental baselines

• Determinations of possible sources

S and Hg are related at Yellowstone

600700

800900

100011

001200

13001400

Sulfur

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3M

ercu

ry

LethariaBryoria

Species

Chemical Baselines for Hypogymnia physodes

2

4

12

25

110

225

400

890

920

1,060

1,400

2,600

3,340

16,500

21,000

1 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000

Cd

As

Ni

Cu

Pb

Mn

Zn

Mg

Al

P

S

Fe

K

Ca

N

Concentration (ppm)

Element patterns are different in 4 species at Boundary Waters

-2 -1 0 1 2FACTOR(1)

-2

-1

0

1

2

3F

AC

TO

R(2

)

ParmeliaHypogymniaEverniaCladina

Species

Pb & Mn in Evernia mesomorpha through time

    

PbRank 1 Eqn 8002 Exponential(a,b,c)

r^2=0.72166733 DF Adj r^2=0.62888977 FitStdErr=2.3658021 Fstat=12.964114a=1.9942252 b=1.1009371e+109

c=7.9764389

1982.5 1987.5 1992.5 1997.5

Year

2.5

5

7.5

10

12.5

15

17.5

2.5

5

7.5

10

12.5

15

17.5

MnRank 20 Eqn 8002 Exponential(a,b,c)

r^2=0.42861629 DF Adj r^2=0.25720118 FitStdErr=6.7754471 Fstat=4.1257558a=-24.413935 b=3.0612786e-67

c=-12.773841

1982.5 1987.5 1992.5 1997.5

Year

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

Selected Publications

1995. Bennett, J. P. Abnormal chemical element concentrations in lichens of Isle Royale National Park. Environ. Exper. Botany. 35: 259-277.

1996. Bennett, J. P., Dibben, M. J. & Lyman, K. J. Element concentrations in Hypogymnia physodes after three years of transplanting along Lake Michigan. Environ. Exper. Bot. 36: 255-270.

1997. Bennett, J. P. & Wetmore, C. M. Chemical element concentrations in four lichens on a transect entering Voyageurs National Park. Environ. Exp. Bot. 37: 173-185.

1999. Bennett, J. P. and C. M. Wetmore. Changes in element contents of selected lichens over 11 years in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, northern Minnesota, USA. Environ. Exper. Bot. 41: 75-82.

1999.Bennett, J. P. Statistical Baseline Values for Chemical Elements in the Lichen Hypogymnia physodes. Chapter 19 in “Environmental Pollution and Plant Responses”, S. B. Agrawal & M. Agrawal, Eds., CRC Press/Lewis Publishers. PP. 343-353.

1999. Bennett, J. P. and C. M. Wetmore. Geothermal chemical elements in lichens of Yellowstone National Park. Environ. Exp. Bot. 42: 191-200.

NPLICHEN

• Lichen checklists available

• www.ies.wisc.edu/brd

• Specimen x locality data available

• Rare or sensitive species monitoring