Are Certain Invertebrate Species Sensitive Bioindicators of the Air Pollution?

The LIFE 02ENV/RO/000461 project is dedicated to the research of the flora and invertebrate fauna in downtown Bucharest, the city area most affected by intense car traffic and the consequent air pollution. The pilot zone is represented by three public parks (Izvor, Cismigiu and Unirea Parks). The zoological samples were collected from the herbaceous layer, from native and ornamental plants and from the soil, according to a transect method, from those park areas closest to the polluted downtown. The preliminary results revealed a change in invertebrate biodiversity. Some of the dominant species in the herbaceous layer are represented by Frankliniella intonsa, Haplothrips niger, Bagnalliella yuccae (Ord. Thysanoptera) Oulema melanopus and Labidostomis longimana (Ord. Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). The Curculionidae species are present in the centre of the parks, the edges being populated with Apionidae species (Ord. Coleoptera). In the soil, Lithobiomorpha were more frequent than the other orders of centipedes. The Acari: Parasitus beta, Rhodacarellus pespicuus (Mesostigmata), Glycypagus sp. (Prostigmata) and Tectocepheus sarekensis, Ceratozetes minutissimus (Oribatida) and Cyphoderus bidenticulatus, Protaphorura quadrioculata (Collembola) are characteristic species. Could the dominant species be bioindicators of air pollution? A significant part of the project is dedicated to the study of heavy metal concentrations in those invertebrate species that act as bioindicators responding to the condition of the urban environment.