Publications by authors named "Massimo Piccotto"
Article Synopsis
- A transplant experiment tested if daily watering helps the lichen Flavoparmelia caperata survive high levels of NO(x) and O(3).
- Five groups of lichen samples were exposed to different environments, with some watered daily before peak pollution levels, while others were not.
- Results showed that watered groups had less stress and better physiological responses compared to non-watered samples, suggesting that lichen survival in urban areas may be more affected by dry conditions than by pollution levels.
Photosynthesis in chlorolichens: the influence of the habitat light regime.
J Plant Res
November 2010
The hypothesis that CO(2) gas exchange and chlorophyll a fluorescence (ChlaF) of lichens vary according to the light regimes of their original habitat, as observed in vascular plants, was tested by analysing the photosynthetic performance of 12 populations of seven dorsoventral, foliose lichens collected from open, south-exposed rocks to densely shaded forests. Light response curves were induced at optimum thallus water content and ChlaF emission curves at the species-specific photon flux at which the quantum yield of CO(2) assimilation is the highest and is saturating the photosynthetic process. Photosynthetic pigments were quantified in crude extracts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransplants of Flavoparmelia caperata (L.) Hale were used to test possible relationships between chlorophyll a fluorescence (CaF) and ambient atmospheric conditions (temperature, precipitation, SO2 and NOx levels). Portions of the same thalli collected in a pristine site (A) of the Trieste Karst were exposed at that site, as the control, and in four other sites (B-E) in NE Italy, near to pollution monitoring stations.
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