The iron smelters and coal-fired power plants may be gone, but the imprint of a rust-belt region’s industrial legacy remains in its lichen communities. Lichens are the proverbial “canaries in the coal mine” when it comes to looking at the damaging effects of pollution in a given area, said Robert J. Warren, associate professor of biology.
Click here for original story, Surprising level of biodiversity found among western New York lichen populations
Source: Phys.org