Draft 2: The Effects of Air Pollution on Area Lichens

Introduction
The main purpose of our research will be to determine how the growth
of lichens is affected when exposed to air pollutants. We plan to conduct a
full-scale study, researching the different types of area lichens and the kinds
of environments they thrive in. We decided to study lichens for our final
project because we all share a common fascination with nature and concern
for the affects of pollution on our environment. We hypothesize that all types
of lichen are indeed adversely affected when exposed to air pollution.

There are five specific questions that we have formulated that will help
us get started on our research. First of all, we want to find out in what types
of environment lichens grow; where are they located? Secondly, we want to
find out how to identify lichens. Obviously, we need to know what they look
like. In addition, we hope to find out what the effects of temperature change
are on lichens. Will our study still be valid when it is freezing cold outside?
We want to study the growth patterns of them. How fast do they grow? How
long do lichens live? We also want to be able to identify the three different
types of lichens (crustos, folios, fruiticose) and the differences between them.
Finally, we also need to find out what the effects of air pollution and certain
chemicals are on lichens. This question is central to our hypothesis and it will
help us to form a more valid conclusion.We decided on these specific
questions because we feel they are essential to the overall understanding of
lichens and our project.

We are concerned about the effects of pollution on our environment,
and we feel others should be as well. The more research conducted, the
better the chance humanity will have to find a solution to the problem of
pollutants in the air. Our project is relevant because it is essential to a better
understanding of the effects of pollution on nature.

Relevance
We selected to references from the many we have found that deal with
our lab. Most involve internet resources from science journals but we have
also found some reference books as below stated.

In the book Lichens of North America, by Irwin M. Brado, Sylvia Duran
Sharnoff, and Stephen Sharnoff (Yale University Press, 1997), several studies
on the effects of pollution on lichens were conducted. We discovered that
scientists on occasion use lichens themselves to study the air quality. In one
specific study, nearly 80% of the original lichen species were found to be
missing from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

B.W. Ferryís book entitled, Air Pollution and Lichens (Athlone Press,
1973), gives an extensive commentary on how pollution alters the growth and
chemical makeup of certain lichens. We learned from his book that it has
been successfully proven that certain lichens are changed by the affects of
air pollution.

Our research relates to the larger question of global pollution and how
it negatively affects all living things in general. Hopefully, in some way, our
research will further explore the way chemicals, brought on by pollution, can
be quelled so that wildlife will not be destroyed further.

Materials and Methods
For this lab, we constructed an experimental design to determine the
quantities of lichens and how they were affected in certain areas. First, we
determined that in order to conduct a thorough experiment, we must choose
trees from different places on the campus. The areas should be varied so that
we take observations from differently affected places. For instance, lichens
growing near a road will be more susceptible to air pollutants because of
heavy traffic flow and the exhaust caused from this. Lichens growing in a
secluded field away from congested traffic might be less prone to the same
type of pollution constantly exposed to the other type of lichens.

For our design, we need a few materials: string, colored markers, and
measuring tape. The first thing we need to do is stretch the string along the
trunk of the tree. Then, we proceed to evaluate the different types of lichens
and identify which ones are present. After we have observed this, we
continue by labeling the string with the appropriate color which matches the
type of lichen we have identified. Next, we are able to compare the
quantities of the different types of lichens. We can also determine which
types, if any, are more adversely affected by air pollution.

We will involve the class in our lab by having them go through a
shorter version of our own observations. Prior to class, we will have certain
trees marked for the use of the lab and the materials ready. We will also give
the rest of the students a brief introduction to lichens and their three main
types. This will help the students to better understand what exactly they are
looking for. Finally, we will describe how lichens are somehow affected by
the chemicals in the atmosphere. This will be the main focus of our
experimentation.

Our group plans to take two observations a month from October to
December. We plan to begin our search for lichens in early October, when
they should be easiest to find. We will vary the places in which we observe
the lichens. In this way, we will be able to get a more complete view of how
some environments alter the chemical makeup and growth patterns of the
crustos, folios and fruiticos types of lichens.

For Further Info on this Topic, Check out this WWW Site: www.lichen.com . Next Article
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