Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Many lichens are very sensitive to environmental disturbances and can be used to cheaply [16] assess air pollution, [56] [57] [58] ozone depletion, and metal contamination. Lichens have been used in making dyes, perfumes , [59] and in traditional medicines. A few lichen species are eaten by insects [16] or larger animals, such as reindeer. [60]
Many lichens have been used medicinally across the world. A lichen's usefulness as a medicine is often related to the lichen secondary compounds that are abundant in most lichen thalli. Different lichens produce a wide variety of these compounds, most of which are unique to lichens and many of which are antibiotic.
Edible lichens are lichens that have a cultural history of use as a food. Although almost all lichen are edible (with some notable poisonous exceptions like the wolf lichen , powdered sunshine lichen , and the ground lichen [ 1 ] ), not all have a cultural history of usage as an edible lichen.
One reason the greenshield lichen can be more commonly found than other lichen species is because it is relatively tolerant of pollution. Lichens are often used to monitor air quality. Since ...
Usnea filipendula – one of about 20,000 described species of lichen. The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to lichens.. Lichen – composite organism made up of multiple species – a fungal partner, one or more photosynthetic partners, which can be either green algae or cyanobacteria, and, in at least 52 genera of lichens, a yeast. [1]
A chemical spot test can be used to detect the presence of certain lichen products which can be characteristic of a given lichen species. Some components of certain lichens may also fluoresce under ultraviolet light, providing another form of lichen identification test.
The reindeer lichen is edible, but crunchy. It can be soaked with wood ashes to remove its bitterness, then added to milk or other dishes. [18] It is a source of vitamin D. [19] This lichen can be used in the making of aquavit, [20] and is sometimes used as decoration in glass windows.
The map lichen (Rhizocarpon geographicum), the lichen most used in lichenometry. Lichenometry can provide dates for glacial deposits in tundra environments, lake level changes, glacial moraines, trim lines, palaeofloods, [9] rockfalls, seismic events associated with the rockfalls, [2] talus stabilization and former extent of permafrost or very persistent snow cover. [10]