Lichen Communities as Indicators of Forest Health

ently fuzzy concept, even when applied to ourselves. And forests (and other ecosystems) are fuzzier than organisms, being weakly bounded and loosely organized. So the concept of can seem hopelessly vague. Nevertheless, in extreme cases anyone can spot a sick forest. Despite forest health being a fuzzy concept, people want healthy forests and expect resource management agencies to monitor them. The concept of ecosystem health is contentious not only because it is fuzzy, but also because it embodies societal values and preferences (Lackey 1998). The more that people disagree on these values, the more contentious the concept of ecosystem health.