Lichen presence is a bioindicator of pristine air quality

Evidence

Umbilicaria, like many lichens, is highly sensitive to air pollution. When you find Umbilicaria, you know you’re breathing the purest air. Atmospheric contaminants like sulfur dioxide and ozone will kill it outright. Pay attention when it departs. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1010

Categorization

• SHARE: A specific lichen-as-air-quality-indicator fact worth sending to anyone teaching environmental monitoring or field biology.
• XREF: connects to: Moss absence on street trees signals neighborhood air pollution — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 401

Broader Connections

• Moss absence on street trees signals neighborhood air pollution #corroborates (0.85) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 401