Moss absence on street trees signals neighborhood air pollution

Evidence

The health of mosses in a neighborhood also reflects the level of air quality. Mosses and lichens are both very sensitive to air pollution. Street trees which once were greened over by moss are now bare. Check out the trees in your neighborhood. Their presence or absence has meaning. They are the canaries in the mine. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 401

Categorization

• XREF: A perfect observation-as-method model for the polyad: reading present landscape (moss-bare trees) as evidence of past air-quality change — Kimmerer’s core pedagogy in one image. — connects to: No evidence supports the moss-damages-roofs industry claim — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 396; Lichen presence is a bioindicator of pristine air quality — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 1010
• SHARE: The lung-alveoli bridge to atmosphere paragraph leads in here — share with anyone doing environmental health or air-quality teaching.