Resumen

Corticolous lichens, due to their sensibility to atmospheric pollutants, can be utilized as bioindicators. The objective of this research study was to evaluate the atmospheric quality in six Nature Reserves of the Civil Society (RNSC for its acronym in Spanish) in the city of Ibagué, through the implementation of indicators based on the study of corticolous lichen. Ten phorophytes of different species were selected and samples were taken from each one of them, where the most abundant families in the six RNSCs were Arthoniaceae and Roccellaceae; likewise, the most abundant species in the six RNSCs were Physcia undulata and Parmotrema bangii. In order to do the evaluation of the atmospheric quality in the RNSCs, it was necessary to use the indicators based on lichen communities: Lichen Diversity Value (LDV), which showed that the RSCN EntreAguas presents the highest diversity and the RSCN Aguas Frías the lowest. Jaramillo and Botero’s index of atmospheric purity (IAP) showed that the RNCS Orquídeas del Tolima had the highest coverage value and the RSCN Santafé de los Guaduales the lowest. On the other hand, LeBlanc and Sloover’s IAP showed a higher diversity in the RNSC Gaia and minimum values in the RSCN Aguas Frías. The Shannon index showed that the RNSC EntreAguas obtained the highest average value, while the Dominance and Berger-Parker indexes were higher for the RNSC Gaia. Finally, a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was conducted, which allowed to estimate the atmospheric quality in comparative terms.