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Lichen Diversity in Different Lichenogeographical Regions of India

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Lichens to Biomonitor the Environment

Abstract

India is a megadiversity region having rich lichen diversity of 2,300 species belonging to 305 genera and 74 families, collected from different regions of the country. Owing to its vast geographical area and varied climate, different phytogeographical regions of India exhibit variation in the diversity of lichens. The detailed lichen diversity in different lichenogeographical region provides the distribution and occurrence of different lichen species including some common and toxitolerant species of the region.

One can retrieve preliminary information about the air quality based on the lichen community structure and distribution of bioindicator species as lichen communities/indicator species provide valuable information about the natural-/anthropogenic-induced changes in the microclimate and land-use changes due to human activity. For identification of species, a key to genera and species provides concise information to identify the lichen species based on their morphological and anatomical characters and chemicals present. Key provided in the chapter will help beginners to identify some common lichen species based on the distribution in different climatic zones of India. The section also provides comprehensive information about the bioindicator communities and bioindicator species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, UP, India

    Vertika Shukla

  2. Lichenology Laboratory, CSIR - National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, UP, India

    D. K. Upreti & Rajesh Bajpai

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  1. Vertika Shukla
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  2. D. K. Upreti
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  3. Rajesh Bajpai
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Shukla, V., Upreti, D.K., Bajpai, R. (2014). Lichen Diversity in Different Lichenogeographical Regions of India. In: Lichens to Biomonitor the Environment. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1503-5_4

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