LITERATURE REVIEW During the last 30 years, many studies have stressed the possibility of using lichens as biomonitors

of air quality in view of their sensitivity to various environmental factors, which can provoke changes in some of their components and/or specific parameters (Brodo, 1961: Rao and Le Blanc, 1966; Shcnbek, 1968). For indeed, many physiological parameters are used to evaluate environmental damage to lichens, such as photosynthesis; chlorophyll content and degradation, decrease of ATP, variation in respiration levels and ethylene production(Epstein et al., 1985) From the research paper Biological Monitoring: Lichens as bioindicator of air pollution assessment, lichens are considered the result of a symbiotic association of a fungus and an alga. More precisely, the term alga indicates either a Cyanobacteria or a Chlorophyceae; the fungus is usually an Ascomycetes, although on rare occasions it may be either a Basidiomycetes or a Phycomycetes. The alga is the part that is occupied with the formations of nutrients, while the fungus supplies water and minerals. These organisms are perennial and maintain a uniform morphology over time. As far back as 1866, a study was published on epiphytic lichens used as bioindicators (Naylander, 1866). Lichens are the most studied bioindicators of air quality (Ferry et al., 1973). They have been defined as permanent control system for air pollution assessment (Nimis et al., 1989).

The occurrence and emission of pollutants such as PAHs to the atmosphere have been substantial during the past centuries because of the abundant use of fuels for industrial applications, heating, transport, and many other purposes. PAHs constitute a wide class of compounds composed of two or more fused aromatic rings. They are formed during incomplete combustion and the major emission sources to the atmosphere are mainly related to human activities, like domestic wood burning and road traffic. This group of compounds involves potential health risks because of the mutagenic, carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting effects of some of them. From the research; Behaviour of different lichen species as biomonitors of air pollution by PAHs in natural ecosystems by Blasco et al,.(2010), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 16 PAHs as priority pollutants and they have also been included as

persistent organic pollutants (POPs) by the United Nations-European Committee in a global treaty signed in May 2001 in the Stockholm convention for the regulation of POPs. From this point, the knowledge of the perspective of those compounds in the environment shows an increasing interest. PAHs can be presented as a wide variety of forms and are largely found in water, aerosols, soils, sediments and biota (Blasco et al,. 2010).

In the research done by Blasco et al,. 2010, six different species of lichens (Parmelia sulcata Tayl., Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach., Ramalina farinacea, Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf., Usnea sp. and Lobaria pulmonaria (Schreb.) Hoffm.) were collected in two mountain valleys in Central Pyrenees: the Aspe and Aragon valleys. Two multivariate techniques have been applied with different purposes, ANOVA and Discriminant Analysis (DA), to evaluate the data. The PAHs spatial distribution was studied in the three more abundant and widespread species in the area: P. sulcata, E. prunastri (L.) Ach. and R. farinacea in terms of total PAHs, PAHs related to the combustion processes and toxicity. Different behaviour of each lichen species to trap PAHs was found, being P. sulcata the best one to monitor the most persistent PAHs of pyrogenic origin and E. prunastri the most appropriate to provide information about pyrogenic and petrogenic PAHs. Traffic was the most relevant influence in PAHs bioaccumulation in lichen species.

The assessment of environmental pollutants and the risk they pose to natural areas has been a very important topic in environmental science. Air pollution has a relevant impact at these areas, where whole ecosystems are affected due to the interaction between the atmosphere and the different environmental compartments.In the evaluation of this problem, lichens play an important role, because they are able to retain a great amount of pollutants present in the atmosphere, through wet and dry depositions. The particular organisation of lichen thalli, without roots and cuticle, makes them highly sensitive to any change in the environment and provides the ability to accumulate pollutants in their biological tissue
The biomonitoring capability of lichens has been studied in depth for trace metals, sulfur and nitrogen. There are a few studies in the literature about persistent organic pollutants, such as PAHs, in lichens. The anthropogenic combustion processes, such as the road traffic or the house heating systems, are usually responsible for the presence of these well-known carcinogenic compounds in natural areas, sometimes in comparable levels to those found in urban atmosphere. Therefore, in this work, lichens are studied as biomonitors of the air pollution caused by PAHs in a natural ecosystem.

Lichens are very sensitive to changes in its surrounding environment. Mazlin Mokhtar (2006) examined trace element in Malaysian lichen as potential indicators for pollution. She mentioned that lichens can absorb pollutants such as trace metals from air borne particles, and then accumulate and saturate the metals. This is due to their structure and anatomy (Hutchinson et al. 1996). Unlike higher plants, they lack waxy cuticle and stomata and readily absorb gases and dissolved substances in the air through their surface (Hale, 1983).The weakness of its cuticles enables moist air to be absorbed through its surface. Metals which are absorbed along with the moist air are dissolved in it. The ability of different types of lichens to accumulate metals from the surroundings is different depending upon its species. Lichen can be used as sensitive indicators to estimate the biological effect of pollutants by measuring changes at the community or population level, and as accumulative monitors of persistent pollutants, by assaying their trace element contents.

Lichen changes at community or population level are used as sensitive indicators of the biological effect of pollutants (Richardson, 1991) and the mapping of lichen diversity is becoming routine in several countries (Sigal, 1988; VDI, 1995; Canapini, 1999) since it provides an indication of the biological impact of air pollution. It is also quick and inexpensive and provides results on which predictions for human health can be based (Cislaghi and Nimis, 1997). Lichen mapping is especially useful in urban areas, where the high density of different emitting sources makes monitoring of air pollution with detectors an extremely difficult task due to the variety of pollutants (Showman, 1988). There is also evidence that lichens can be used to monitor air quality changes in urban areas over intervals of a few years (Loppi et al., 1997). Loppi (2000) done a research on Biodiversity of epiphytic lichens and air pollution in the town of Siena (Central Italy).He mention that lichen mapping is especially useful in urban areas, where the high density of different emitting sources makes monitoring of air pollution with detectors an extremely difficult task due to the variety of pollutants (Showman, 1988). There is also evidence that lichens can be used to monitor air quality changes in urban areas over intervals of a few years (Loppi et al., 1997). Lichen biodiversity counts can be taken as estimates of environmental quality: high values correspond to good situations while low values indicate poor quality. Such measures are chiefly depending from the two main reactions of epiphytic lichen

communities to air pollution by phytotoxic gases, especially SO2 and NOX: a decrease in the number of species and in their cover/ frequency. Biomonitoring techniques assess the deviations from natural conditions of pollution-reactive components of the ecosystems, and it is therefore of crucial importance to quantify naturality in different situations (Nimis, 1999). In the research Determination of Trace Element in Malaysian Lichen as Potential Indicators for Pollution by Using Inductive Couple Plasma Emission Spectrophotometry , Mazlin,2006 find that different species have different sensitivities in absorbing and accumulating trace metals. Cladonia sp. was sensitive to V and Zn, while Cladia aggregate was sensitive to Cr and As. Usnea flexilis was sensitive to Cd and Cd could not be detected in the other five species. The samples of lichen in this study has been taken from bark of trees and as epiphytic lichens. Lichens absorbed metal elements not only from the air but also from its substrate. This lichens grow on the outer bark of trees, which were made up of dead and dried materials. The place that they were growing on did not influence the absorption and accumulation of trace metals from the air (Mazlin, 2006)

The distribution of lichen species is found to be more diverse in the mountainous areas of Malaysia (Din et al. 1998).Din (1998) done a research on Chemical Profile of Compounds from Lichens of Bukit Larut, Peninsular Malaysia. Bukit Larut was chosen as the study site because it is regarded as a good location for lichen growth due to its location as well as the climatic conditions. Situated 9 km east of Taiping, 4 50N, 100 48E and 1035 m above sea level, Bukit Larut is a hill resort noted for its gardens and is surrounded by tropical mountain rainforest. As Frasers Hill is one of the mountainous area in Malaysia, it is also one of a good examples of location to carry out biomonitoring using lichen.

From the research done by Din (1998) at Bukit Larut, they find that the lichen flora of Bukit Larut is more diverse when compared to other mountainous areas in Peninsular Malaysia, due to heavy rainfall and higher light exposure. For the chemical profiles of the lichens fron Bukit Larut, particularly noteworthy were vioxanthin and pigmentosin A, yellow-green naphthopyrone derivatives detected in the lichen Hypotrachyna toiana and ergochromes (eumitrins A1, A3, B1

and B2), detected in Usnea baileyi. Heterodermia flabellata and H. obsurata proved to be rich sources of anthraquinone derivatives (emodin, 7-chloroemodin, flavor-obscurins A, B1 and B2) while all three Heterodermia species produced triterpenes (zeorin, 6-acetoxyhopane-16, 22diol, 16-acetoxyhopene-6, 22-diol). -Alectoronic acid, the only diphenyl ether detected, was present in Parmotrema rampoddense.From this study, aliphatic acids were detected in two species, Heterodermia japonica (constipatic acid) and Hypotrachyna ikomae (lichesterinic acid, protolichesterinic acid, nephrosterinic acid and isonephrosterinic acid). The other lichen substances including all the depsides, depsidones, skyrin, usnic acid and pinastric acid are common and widely distributed in many lichen species.

The foliose type lichens is usually abundant in a place with higher altitude. From a research done by Shahrizam Zulkifly (2011); Distribution of Lichen Flora at Different Altitudes of Gunung Machincang, Langkawi Islands, Malaysia, he finds that the crustose and foliose types of lichen occupy the Gunung Machincang. Crustose type lichens were found in the lowland as well as the high altitude. The foliose lichens are found mostly in higher altitudes of more than 700 m in dry areas, and also in low areas, near the river (riparian), which has a certain amount of moisture and sunlight. Smith (1991) stated that the lichen flora is poor in the rainforest where the bark is colonised and dominated by hepatics and mosses. Suitable habitats favour the growth of folicolous species. In Gunung Machincang, it is clearly found that lichen biodiversity thrives in the lowlands, in areas near the river, but not necessarily so, in high altitudes where it is abundant in the canopy and branches which are exposed to the sunlight. Most temperate and boreal forests with light exposed trees has a richer lichen vegetation than the trees of the interior forest (Rose 1992). As the top of the mountain barely reaches 800 m, the lichen species that regularly appear on cloud forest such as Lobaria, Pseudocyphellaria sp. and Sticta sp. was not found in Gunung Machincang. Gunung Machincang is a pristine and protected area where there is less exploitation therefore resulting is a more extensive collection of lichens (Zulkifly, 2011).

Crustose type lichens were found in the lowland as well as the high altitude. From the research in Gunung Machincang, the foliose lichens are found mostly in higher altitudes of more than 700 m in dry areas, and also in low areas, near the river (riparian), which has a certain amount of moisture and sunlight. Smith (1991) stated that the lichen flora is poor in the rainforest where the

bark is colonised and dominated by hepatics and mosses. Suitable habitats favour the growth of folicolous species. In Gunung Machincang, it is clearly found that lichen biodiversity thrives in the lowlands, in areas near the river, but not necessarily so, in high altitudes where it is abundant in the canopy and branches which are exposed to the sunlight. Most temperate and boreal forests with light exposed trees has a richer lichen vegetation than the trees of the interior forest (Rose 1992).

Mosses as useful indicators for biological monitoring of regional atmospheric depositions and heavy metal contamination of their environment were developed at the end of the 1960s (Ruhling and Tyler, 1968). The use of native terrestrial mosses as biomonitors is now a well-recognized technique in studies of atmospheric contamination (Fernandez and Carballeira, 2002) and is applied as a practical tool in establishing and characterizing deposition sources. The capability of the mosses to be used as bioindicators primarily depends on their aptitude to absorb and to fix metallic pollutants as well as their interdependence concerning the ground mineral contribution (Brown and Brumelis, 1996). These plant groups are amenable to biomonitoring because they are widespread, easy to handle and they lack cuticle, vascular and root system thus reflecting directly aerial heavy metal deposition. Their high cation exchange capacity and high surface to volume ratio favor the accumulation of the large concentrations of heavy metals across the moss cell wall for long period (Brown, 1982; Tyler, 1990; Sawidis et al, 1993; Thoni et al. 1996; Markert et al, 1999; Gerdol et al, 2000; Fernandez et al, 2002).

From the research done by Loppi (2000), although it is well-documented that epiphytic lichens respond to atmospheric pollution, a negative relationship of most species was observed only for SO2, or the combination of SO2 and NOX which generally are strongly correlated, and thus biodiversity counts can only be used as a monitor for SO2 (Van Dobben and Ter Braak, 1999). However, in field monitoring it is very difficult to separate the effects of many intercorrelated variables and this is especially true for pollution studies, as pollutant concentrations tend to be correlated with the general level of human activity and are therefore correlated among each other (Van Dobben and Ter Braak, 1998). Furthermore, urban environments are highly complex and

air pollutants and lichen species are both influenced by local topography and climate(Loppi, 2000).