Lichens are veritable “canaries in the coal mine,” well-recognized for their ability to signal environmental conditions through their presence and abundance in forest landscapes. So useful are some species of lichens as “bioindicators” that the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program regularly monitors populations of the symbiotic organisms as part of its periodic nationwide resource assessments.
A new report published by the Pacific Northwest Research Station outlines baseline findings from the first full cycle of lichen data collection conducted by the FIA program in Washington, Oregon, and California. Titled Lichen Bioindication of Biodiversity, Air Quality, and Climate, the report discusses findings from the cycle’s 972 individual lichen surveys, which compose what is formally known as the “FIA Lichen Indicator” and which explore trends in forest health using lichens as bioindicators.
“The FIA Lichen Indicator provides an invaluable landscape-scale view of how air quality and climate shape forest ecosystems,” said Sarah Jovan, a research lichenologist and author of the report. “My main goal, however, was to write a report with wide appeal, one that anyone curious about lichens would find engaging.”
An electronic copy of the publication is available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr737.pdf. Printed copies also are available.
To learn more about the Station’s publications and to request copies, visit http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications.
The PNW Research Station is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. It has 11 laboratories and centers located in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington and about 480 employees.
Publication citation: Jovan, Sarah. 2008. Lichen bioindication of biodiversity, air quality, and climate: baseline results from monitoring in Washington, Oregon, and California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-737. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 115 p.