Urban bioindication: an approach to epiphytic lichens in the city of Madrid

Abstract

This article analyzes the presence of epiphytic lichens in the urban fabric of Madrid in relation to the specific location of each of the stations that make up the Madrid City Council's Air Quality Monitoring and Control Network. With this as a starting point, a statistical analysis of the pollution data provided by the stations is established to verify the differences between the various urban enclaves. This gives rise to fieldwork that provides qualitative information on the existence of lichen specimens as an integral part of the environmental context in one of the most representative cities on the international scene, where the preservation of the urban environment continues to be a subject of perpetual debate. In this case, research on epiphytic lichens was carried out based on the analysis of specimens of the tree species Ulmus Pumila, which is widely distributed in the Madrid metropolitan area, conducting a homogeneous study on the factors that influence the presence of lichens in urban contexts. This research also provides a potential tool linked to environmental education for citizens, which can be used in the development of environmental education projects.