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Lichens and Pollution: Monitoring Air Quality

Learn about lichens, their role in air quality monitoring, and how different types indicate pollution levels. Conduct activities following the information provided on the OPAL air survey web pages by Jacqui Middleton in 2010.

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Lichens and Pollution: Monitoring Air Quality

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  1. Lichens and Pollution … Is our air clean? Activities follow the information on the OPAL air survey web pages - http://www.opalexplorenature.org/ Compiled by Jacqui Middleton, 2010.

  2. WHAT IS A LICHEN? • Lichens are made up of two different organisms living together: A fungus and an alga . • The fungus provides the body in which the alga can live protected from light and drought. • The alga makes the food for the fungus.

  3. Many lichens do not like air pollution There are many types of air pollution: • Smoke from chimneys • Car fumes • Dust and fertiliser from fields • Fumes from factories and power stations All of these types of air pollution contain NITROGEN – many lichens do not like too much NITROGEN.

  4. What do our air-monitor lichens look like? • Leafy lichens • Bushy lichens Parmelia family – brown, yellow-green and grey-green leafy lichens – have short hairs on their underside Xanthoria – orange leafy lichens Physcia – with longish hairs on the edges Evernia - Green top & White underside Usnea – like a wirey beard Hypogymnia – a puffy lichen with no hairs

  5. Our air-monitor lichens will tell us how clean our air is.

  6. Looking for our lichens - 1 • We are going to find the 4 best lichen trees in the school grounds. • Each group will choose one tree and measure its girth using a tape measure (or a piece of string and a ruler).

  7. Looking for our lichens - 2 1 2 3 • We are going to look for the different lichens on the trunk of a tree up to our heads . • We are also going to say how much of each type of lichen is on the tree and will tell our group leader. • 0 = no lichens • 1 = enough lichens to cover a quarter of a sheet of A4 • 2 = enough lichens to cover half a sheet of A4 • 3 = enough lichens to cover a whole sheet or more 1 3 2 A4 sheet of paper

  8. Looking for our lichens - 3 • We are going to look for lichens on twigs • We are going to look for algae (dark green or orange powder) • Your group leader will make a note of what you see on your group’s record sheet.

  9. What do the results mean? • Places with clean air have more pollution sensitive bushy lichens (e.g. Usnea and Evernia) • Places that have a lot of nitrogen will have a lot of the orange leafy lichens (Xanthoria) • Places that have quite clean air will have lots of the green and brown leafy lichens (Parmelias) • If both are growing together then the air might be changing

  10. After we come back in … • The oldest children will set up air pollution tubes to put outside. • Everyone else will make drawings and/or write about what we did to put up on our display or into our Wildlife Club display book. • Please stay with your groups today. For more information and downloads concerning these activities go to the OPAL air survey web pages - http://www.opalexplorenature.org/

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