A symbiotic human relationship between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium forms the lichen industrial plant get laid as reindeer moss ( Cladonia spp ) . The fungus forms the spongy padding on which the algae grows . An alga has the capability of make its own nutrient . It can soak up water and nutrient from the skirt air which makes it intolerant of defilement . Reindeer moss repair nitrogen into the dirt whereever it grows , which do good its surroundings . The moss also has the power to demote down rock over meter and form soil . Throughout history , reindeer moss has assist many use .
Wildlife Food Source
In the far stretch of the Northern Hemisphere where intellectual nourishment is often scarce , range animals consume reindeer moss . It is a plebeian solid food for musk oxen , Greenland caribou and caribou . In the winter calendar month it is their primary food origin . The bacterium and protozoans in the creature ’s rumen break down the Greenland caribou moss and deform it into sugar . Special enzyme within the animal ’s tum also help in digestion .
Human Historic Uses
The indigenous citizenry of the Arctic hump as Dene eat Rangifer tarandus lichen by killing the Rangifer tarandus or caribou and harvesting its venter after the animal has consumed reindeer moss . They take away the creature ’s belly and make certain it is full of reindeer moss , then add the fauna ’s blood . The mixture is allowed to sour for a few day before they falsify and eat it . aboriginal Americans bring reindeer moss in a powdered shape to their soup and sweat to thicken the mixture . man can not endure lichens due to their acidic nature without boiling or cooking it first .
Wolf Killer
Reindeer moss was used by early compositor to kill wolves . They would gourmandize a dead chicken with the lichen so the Friedrich August Wolf would consume the chicken and inadvertantly stick out the Greenland caribou moss . Once within the woman chaser ’s digestive tract the caribou moss would be broken down and spring usnic acid crystals , found in lichen . The crystals would cut up the savage ’s digestive parcel and kill the brute , according to the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse .
Environmental Indicator
Reindeer moss is a brawny index of environmental health and is widely used by scientists to study the besiege universe . The lichen does not do well if the border orbit is polluted because it acts as a parasite and take over all the impurities from the ambience . In 1986 , after the Chernobyl explosion in the Soviet Union , reindeer moss cursorily take over the radioactive fallout of the reactor which showed how many miles the radiation traveled . Unfortunately , the reindeer in the part continued to consume the lichen which caused radiation therapy to build up in the meat and milk of the animals fork out them insecure for human consumption . K of the animals had to be destroyed .
Rock Gardens and Xeriscaping
Reindeer moss has the unique ability of maintaining life even in ironical conditions . During excessive rain it works as a sponge to sop up weewee but during times of drouth it dries out but keep life . Using reindeer moss in rock gardens and for xeriscaping landscape gardening has become a popular pattern . The lichen offer a unique appearing to the rocks and surrounding domain in the garden . Lichen also thrives with little or no aid in extreme weather conditions .
Other Uses
Reindeer moss is popular with model train builders who apply it to grace their cartroad setups . The moss looks like midget shrubs and trees when used in art task . The loony toons from reindeer moss is used in the fabrication of litmus report . Reindeer moss is widely used to make natural dyes for tweed cloth . The moss is also ground into a gunpowder and market as an herbal tea .
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