New research from two Canadian biologists, including one from Memorial University, is recommending a paradigm shift in how old growth forests in North America are assessed and managed.
Dr. Yolanda Wiersma, a landscape ecologist in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, and Dr. Troy McMullin, a lichenologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, are proposing a lichen-focused system in a paper published in the Ecological Society of America journal, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
Lichens are found on every continent and grow in all climates – from polar regions to harsh deserts.
A symbiotic association between different organisms, lichen can be part fungus and part green alga or a cyanobacterium, or both, and are sensitive bioindicators of environmental change.
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Image via Memorial University.