Preliminary study on epiphytic lichens as an indicator of environmental quality in forests from around Bucharest Municipality (Romania).

The epiphytic lichens were investigated for three forests situated around Bucharest Municipality. The comparative historical background studies concerned with epiphytic lichens in relation to environmental conditions were related. Five variables close related with the distance was analysed within this study, as follow: (1) in close correlation with the distance, the taxonomic analysis reveals a major significance regarding the dominant roll of the genera with a low epiphytic lichens diversity, within the Andronache Forest, unlike Cernica and Pustnicul Forest where, the number of genera is do not significantly owing increasing species number; (2) regarding the substrate, epiphytic lichens species from all investigated forests prefer trees with a roughly rhytidoma. Trees sampled in a great deal belong to the Quercus genus with a roughly rhytidoma facilitating a good growing of epiphytic lichens species because keeps for a long periods of time a high degree of humidity; (3) the analysis of toxi-tolerance degree has shown how the sensitive epiphytic lichens species to pollution is increasing depending on the distance; (4) autsozological categories are marked in a great deal by a great distance from an urban Bucharest area. Thus, the number of rare and disappearing lichens species is increasing direct proportional depending on the distance from the Bucharest Municipality area to investigated forests due to improvement of the environmental quality; (5) from geographical distribution of lichens species point of view, take a place an increasing number of epiphytic lichens species which is close correlated with the distance from Bucharest Municipalityarea to investigated forests. In addition, a great importance was conferred the presence of rare and disappearing epiphytic lichensspecies nearest perturbation area of Bucharest Municipality (Andronache Forest). This fact is possible to occur owing to thedirection of prevailed winds. It was used of sensitivity values of epiphytic lichens species to quantify spatial gradients inenvironmental alteration.