With the help of this GUIDE, an intelligent and patient person without previous training in biology should be able to identify the lichens which require clean air, and then use this information to evaluate air quality at one or more sites.
The method was developed for use in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and has also been tested in southwestern Washington. Many of the lichens occur elsewhere, even in eastern North America and Western Europe, but extensive testing and modification will be required before the GUIDE can be recommended for use outside the Pacific Northwest.
Despite the single authorship, many people have made important contributions to production of this GUIDE. Dr. Lawrence Pike suggested the use of lichens on twigs and made most of the original identification of the critical lichens. A group of undergraduate students under the leadership of Steven Carpenter, funded by a grant from the Student Originated Studies program of the National Science Foundation, conducted the field research on which the GUIDE is based. Robert F. Denison devised and tested the scale. Nancy Hathaway and Terrill J. Chang contributed original drawings of twigs. Susan M. Carpenter drew the lichens. Finally, Terrill Chang and Anna Marin designed the format and typed the final copy.
William Denison