[ad_1]
Just as an art gallery would protect its collection of rare and fine paintings, the National Trust is trying to save one of England’s rarest lichens.
The pulmonaria, a survivor of the ancient wild wood that grew in Britain after the last ice age, has been carefully transferred from a fallen oak to nearby trees.
The presence or absence of certain species of lichens can be used to indicate the health of the ecosystem in which they are found. Experts say that lichens act as early warning signs for future changes due to their sensitivity to disturbances in their environment.
But the population of the frilly greenish golden lichen, also known by its Latin name, Lobaria pulmonary, has become increasingly rare in England since the 18th century as a result of air pollution, to which lichens are particularly sensitive, and loss of habitat.
In the Lake District, it exists in only a handful of sites, including a veteran oak in Borrowdale, which formed what is believed to be the largest community of the species in England.
The tree, believed to be between 200 and 300 years old, was toppled by a storm this year and conservationists said the lichen would have died if it had been left.
Ecologists and scientists have been monitoring the tree since it fell and locating suitable recipient trees to transplant the material before the wood began to deteriorate.
A team has carefully moved a large patch of lungwort from the oak and reattached it to dozens of other trees in Borrowdale using wire mesh, staples and eco-friendly glue to help it survive.
The selected trees are scattered throughout different parts of the valley in an attempt to encourage lichens to help make the Lake District population resistant to threats such as tree diseases, air pollution and climate change.
April Windle, a member of the Cumbrian Lichen and Bryophyte Group who has been studying the tree for three years, defended the attempted translocation.
“Lichens are such amazing life forms and they play a vital role within these forests. They carry out photosynthesis, regulate water and carbon cycles, provide food for invertebrates and nesting material for birds, ”he said.
“They are also ecosystem pioneers, the first organisms to colonize bare surfaces, changing the baseline environmental conditions that allow other wild animals to move and thrive.”
The transfer is the largest attempt made by the National Trust in association with the British Lichen Society, Cumbria Lichen and Bryophyte Group and Plantlife, with nearly three square meters removed and transplanted into dozens of trees in Borrowdale, resulting in more than 100 translocations.
Maurice Pankhurst, the National Trust Ranger, said: “Often described as Celtic rainforests, these Atlantic forests are of international importance, are part of our country’s natural heritage and are crucial to understanding the impact of environmental change.
“Without our active conservation, we run the risk of losing species such as the pulmonaria before we have had time to understand the subtle interconnections between the different species that keep these beautiful and rich Atlantic forests in healthy condition, and even how they can help influence our own human development. “
