Facts about Lichen

1. 06

   Lichens can accumulate heavy metals like lead and cadmium from air pollution, making them reliable biomonitors used by scientists to map atmospheric contamination across regions since the 1970s.

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2. 05

   Reindeer herds in Scandinavia have declined by up to 40 percent since the 1990s primarily because climate change creates ice layers that prevent lichen, their winter food source, from being accessible beneath snow.

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3. 04

   The fungal component of lichen can comprise up to 90 percent of the organism's biomass while the photosynthetic algae or cyanobacteria contribute only 10 percent.

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4. 03

   Lichens produce approximately 10 percent of Earth's oxygen through photosynthesis despite covering only 8 percent of the planet's land surface.

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5. 02

   Over 20,000 lichen species exist worldwide, and they grow so slowly that some Arctic specimens are estimated to be over 4,500 years old.

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6. 01

   Some Arctic lichen species can survive temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius and remain viable after freezing for over twenty years.

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