EFFECTS OF GAMMA RADIATION ON LICHENS AND LICHEN-FORMING FUNGI AND ALGAE

摘要

External and internal observations of the lichens in the Enterprise Radiation Forest tend to indicate that little damage has occurred to lichen thalli as close as AM to the cesium source. The expected climatic changes in the Forest did not occur;however, in one case where a tree was exposed to the sun in July as a result of radiation bark temperatures beneath the thalli of Parmelia sulcata went 8°F above the normal bark temperature.nThe effects of gamma radiation on the lichen acids of Cladonia sylvatica were also studied. Three things were determined:1. C. sylvatica contains more kinds of acids than reported in the literature, 2. The concentration of these acids varies from late winter (many kinds) to early fall (few kinds), 3. Some of these acids disappear when the thalli are irradiated. It is theorized that these acids may protect the thalli from irradiation by serving as electron donors for those biologically important molecules which have electrons removed by the radiation.