People who are sensitive to this and other lichen substances develop lichen dermatitis, an unpleasant disease with itchy reddened skin, sometimes accompanied by pimples or scaliness. Lichen acids can also cause stomach upset, especially if the lichens are not cooked well. A teaspoon of baking soda in the cooking water may counteract this. Architects and model railway enthusiasts often colour small pieces of reindeer lichen soaked in glycerine to make lifelike miniature trees and shrubs. In Finland and Scandinavia this is the basis of a million-dollar export industry.
Reindeer lichens often form extensive, thick mats on the boreal forest floor.
The surface dries quickly, forming a crunchy upper layer, but below this the lichen can remain moist for long periods. Mats of reindeer lichen can severely limit invasion by other plants. Seedlings that germinate on the lichen mat soon wither and die when the surface dries. Those that do manage tor each mineral soil often become enmeshed in lichen branches and are pulled out of the soil or snapped off by the repeated expansion and contraction of the lichens with changes in moisture.