I have only seen reference to using lichens for biomonitoring in forensic science. Since things like pollen and diatoms can be used in forensics to solve crimes because of their distribution and small size, I would think that lichens might be useful in solving crimes. I am currently covering forensic botany in my forensic science class.
Lichens can be used as data in evidence beyond biomonitoring:
Lichens detect past fallout - Los Alamos National Laboratory
www.lanl.gov › discover › November › l...
Nov 8, 2015 ·
Dennis
Dennis Mazur
Lichens have been used to estimate the time that a bone has been exposed to that particular environment. However, there are no serious studies to look at growth rates on bone. I use a lichen specialist at my university to provide an estimate of the rate of growth in cases where lichens are present on exposed human bones. At best it is a rough estimate, but it has the limitation of only indicating time of exposure to favour the growth of lichens on that bone. I hope that helps.
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