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Article: Lichens are surprisingly precise air quality monitors.
- Article from:
- Life Science Weekly
- Article date:
- January 27, 2003
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2003 JAN 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Lichens, combinations of fungi and algae, are quietly trodden underfoot by animals and hikers the world over. Now a new study by a Brigham Young University father-son team has demonstrated that lichens could replace expensive environmental monitors since they accumulate some pollutants in concentrations that correctly manifest the amount of the pollutants in the surrounding air.
"Previously, we knew that lichens took things up from the air, but no one had any significant results indicating that what is in the lichen accurately reflects what is in the air," said Larry St. Clair, the chair of BYU's department of ...