The world's brightest vegetation?

Vegetation reflect different amounts of solar radiation, the brightest ones contribute to keeping surface temperatures low in summer.  EMERALD PhD Eirik Aasmo Finne has performed the highest measurement of albedo of all vegetation species worldwide.
 

Close-up of bright lichen

Bright lichen named Cladonia stellaris. Photo: Eirik Aasmo Finne

The record-high measurement showed an albedo of almost 0.4 in vegetation dominated by the lichen species Cladonia stellaris (Finne et al., 2023). 

Read more about lichen and their role in the ecosystem in Ottar 3/2023 (in Norwegian):
https://uit.no/Content/777601/cache=20221706133350/Ottar_3_2022_web.pdf 

Reference:
Finne, E. A. et al 2023 Environ. Res. Lett. 18 074038. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ace06d

Published Oct. 18, 2023 9:19 PM - Last modified Oct. 19, 2023 12:36 PM
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