Indicators of Air Pollution - Problem Solving

The burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil releases the gas sulphur dioxide
into the air. Lichens are one group of plants which are sensitive to the presence
of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere.

There are three types of lichen:

Crusty Leafy Shrubby

There are many different lichens in each group. The presence or absence of each
type of lichen indicates the level of air pollution.

The table below shows the numbers of different species of each type in each
square kilometre around the city centre.

Distance from No. of lichen species in each square kilometre

city centre in Shrubby lichen Leafy lichen Crusty lichen Total number
kilometres of species
1 0 0 1 1
2 0 0 1 1
3 0 0 2 2
4 0 1 6 7
5 0 1 8 9
6 0 2 12 14
7 0 4 13 17
8 1 8 13 22
9 3 9 13 25
10 7 10 13 30
11 8 10 13 31
12 8 10 13 31

Calculate the total number of species in the table above

Questions:
1. How many species of leafy lichen are there 8km, from the city centre?
There are 8 species of leafy lichen.
2. What is the total number of lichen species 8km, from the city centre?
There 22 species of lichen in total.
3. What happens to the total number of lichen species as you move further
away from the city centre?
The number of lichens increases

The level of sulphur dioxide in the air around the city was also measured.

Distance from city centre (km) Amount of sulphur dioxide

0 170
2 125
4 70
6 50
8 50
10 35
12 0
Questions:
1. on excel
a. Plot a graph to show the level of sulphur dioxide against
distance from the city centre.
b. Plot another graph to show total number of lichen species
against the distance from the city centre.
2. Using the information obtained from the graph give a reason for
the change in the total number of different species of lichen as
you move further away from the city centre.
The farther away from the city centre, there will be more space
to build factories the burns fossil fuels, so therefore increasing
the rate lichen shows up.
3. Which type of lichen is least affected by sulphur dioxide?
I think it is the shrubby lichen.
4. If you found crusty, leafy and shrubby lichens what conclusion
could you make about the amount of sulphur dioxide pollution in
the air?
I could say that in this area there might be a large amount of
sulphur dioxide in the air.