Looking out for Lichen

[Cheryl]

There is an item in the December issue of "The Garden" regarding a survey for gardeners and nature lovers to help monitor air quality by recording the different types of lichen growing on trees in their neighbourhood.

"Using the data sent in by the public, scientists from Imperial College London, the British Lichen Society and the Natural Museum will build a map of air quality across the country. The survey is being undertaken by the community based science project Open Air Laboratories, which is also recording the prescence of tar spot on sycamore caused by the fungus "Rhytisma acerinium". This seems to be less prevalent where air quality is poor, suggesting it may be a pollution-sensitive bio-indicator



I'm sorry to say that I have always been a bit dismissive of lichens - when ever I see them I think "the air here must be good" so I think I might join in this survey in the hope that I might learn more about these "plants" (I don't actually know what category they fall into ) and of course to help with the survey.

To download a survey pack visit www.airsurvey.org