Lichens are in danger due to climate change
Recommended for Secondary Grades
Lichens are in danger due to the climatic conditions on Earth.
The changing climate on the Earth has put lichens in danger. Let’s find out more about lichens.
What is a lichen?
A lichen is a composite organism that is formed from mutual partnership of both fungus and algae.
Lichens are crucial members of the myriad ecosystems. They grow everywhere from tundras in the Arctic to the trees in your backyard. They produce oxygen and also provide food.
Lichens are affected by climate change
A new study has characterized the climatic conditions for lichens. The study says that the lichens take a lot of time to adapt to the climate changes around them.
The new study is led by the researcher Matthew Nelsen. The changing climate in today’s time makes it difficult for algae to survive.
Nelsen and his team examined a group of algae called Trebouxia. More than 7,000 kinds of lichens are powered by Trebouxia which is a common partner in lichens.
Time to adapt to climatic changes
The researchers stated that if global warming continues to increase, it will be hard for the range of Trebouxia algae to survive. It takes a lot of time for algae to change their climatic preferences.
To determine the time gap, the researchers created family trees of algae and learnt about their relationship. The study states that it can take hundreds or thousands of years for Trebouxia to adapt to the changing climatic conditions.
At Curious Times, we absolutely love what we do. We strive each day to provide our little readers with the best experience and news. Curious Times Weekly, The Curious Magazine, and My Expressions are just a few ways for us to reach out to our readers. We present our readers with exciting and interesting content.
All over the world, school children find value and love our content! We want to be better each day, thus continue to seek your valuable feedback. That helps us to serve you better. What kind of news topics interest you? Write to us in the comments section below. We love to hear from our little readers. You could also connect with us via WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, LinkedIn.
1 (Please login to give a Curious Clap to your friend.)