About the event

Lichens are among the best indicators of air quality and pollution, and are valuable in assessing conservation value of habitats. They grow on rocks and walls, trees, and on the soil. 

This workshop give a general introduction to the diversity and structure of lichens, with examples on trees and buildings, then focus on the beautiful lichens which grow on heathland soil, especially the genus Cladonia. These have a reputation for being difficult to identify, but in our three counties, there are few enough species that you can learn to name most of them in a day. As well as survey and monitoring techniques and field identification, the workshop will introduce the use of chemical tests to help identification.