Our conclusion was that there was indeed a negative relationship between pollution and population of tardigrades. The trees that were by the road were affected by pollution of cars and there were less tardigrades living based on the hard living conditions. Additionally, we found that there was a relationship between the pH of bark and the air pollution of the surrounding area, as the amount of PM of the area increases, the pH of the tree bark does as well. However we could not establish a clear relationship between the amount of tardigrades found on lichen and the pH of the tree bark.

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If we were to do this project again we would have used a better way of measuring the pH of the tree bark such as using a pH meter instead of pH drops.

Additionally we would have taken samples from a larger variety of locations in order to find a clear connection between the number of tardigrades and the amount of the air pollution in the area where they are found.