March 8, 2002

Lichens as Bioindicators of Air Quality

The AP Environmental Science class at the Jackson River Governor’s School has been investigating air quality in the Governor’s School area by studying lichens. Their research has been supported by a mini-grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment.

Lichens are a symbiotic combination of algae and fungi and get all of their nutrients from the air and rain. Because they are so dependent upon the atmosphere, lichens can be a very good indicator of air quality. In particular, some lichens are especially sensitive to sulfur emissions from coal-burning power plants.

Funds from the mini-grant allowed the Governor’s School to invite Don Flenniken, an expert on West Virginia lichens, to campus for two days to help the class learn about lichen biology.

The Governor’s School group has found both expected and unexpected results . While the air quality near downtown Covington was rated poor by the lichen assessment, the air quality in the Dolly Ann area rated good. Excellent air quality was found in the Millboro and Warm Springs areas of Bath County, but the top of North Mountain on the Rockbridge/Alleghany county line was found to be merely "good". At Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, the lichen population near the parking lots indicated generally poorer air quality than in the wooded parts of the campus.

In future years, Governor’s School students hope to make detailed "pollution maps" of Covington, Clifton Forge, Buena Vista, and Lexington, and expand their sampling of Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt, and Rockbridge counties.