HOME: www.hiltonpond.org

GENERAL INFO

CONTENTS

RESEARCH

EDUCATION

PUBLICATIONS

MISCELLANY

THIS WEEK at HILTON POND
8-14 February 2001

Lichen Lesson #2

A few weeks ago, "This Week at Hilton Pond" was devoted to a photo essay about those under-appreciated and oft-ignored ecological pioneers called "crustose lichens." These super-thin symbionts--each a collaborative effort between a photosynthetic alga and a fungus--can grow on bare rocks, which fungal enzymes break down into mineral soil.

All photos © Hilton Pond Center

The second of the three main types of lichen forms is called "foliose," from the same root word as "foliage." Although crustose lichens are so flat they seem almost two-dimensional, foliose lichens--many of which look a little like gray-green lettuce--are leafy in appearance (above).

As do the crustose forms, foliose lichens at Hilton Pond Center grow on bare rock (right) and as epiphytes on tree bark, sometimes in heavy shade and sometimes exposed to bright sunlight. Lichens of all types are resistant to drying out, but they also require alternating exposure to wet weather and drought; they will die if kept too long in conditions that are either too moist OR too dry.

Lichens grow very, very, very slowly; observations of some lichen colonies on gravestones have measured growth at only a few centimeters in a hundred years! Both crustose and foliose lichens sometimes show bulls-eye patterns--successive years of growth revealed as ever-larger concentric circles of slightly different colors.

Lichens reproduce in several ways, most commonly via a soredium--a small fragment or ball that includes one or more algal cells surrounded by several fungal cells. Fungi in some foliose lichens also produce "fruiting bodies"--structures that resemble tiny saucers and contain fungal spores (see top photo).


Foliose lichens are much less common at Hilton Pond Center than are crustose types. Click on the thumbnailed images below to view larger photos of foliose lichen specimens. (NOTE: The specimens are not identified; crustose lichen taxonomy is especially difficult and sometimes requires using a microscope to observe how the lichen reacts to a variety of chemicals. If you're positive about identifications of any of the lichens below, please e-mail us at WEBMASTER.)

Loading...
Granite Rock

Loading...
Granite Rock

Loading...
Southern Magnolia Trunk

Loading...
Red Maple Trunk

Loading...
Granite Rock

 Loading...
Weathered Oak Slab
(both crustose & foliose)
 
All photos © Hilton Pond Center


If you enjoy "This Week at Hilton Pond," please help Support

Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History

BIRDS BANDED THIS WEEK at HILTON POND CENTER

 

The following species were banded this week:

American Goldfinch--7
Dark-eyed Junco--1
Northern Cardinal--1


VAGRANT HUMMINGBIRDS
See below

Rufous Hummingbird (female)
(Click on the photo above for
details about this bird, banded
on 02/11/01 at Casar NC)

WEEKLY TOTAL
(8-14 February 2001)
3 species
9 individuals


YEARLY TOTAL
(2001)
11 species
109 individuals
GRAND TOTAL
(since June 1982)

122 species
38,392 individuals

NOTABLE RECAPTURES WITH ORIGINAL BANDING DATES
Dark-eyed Junco
12/30/98
Northern Cardinal
07/17/94
07/19/99
House Finch
08/02/99
01/14/00

This Week at Hilton Pond
is part of the

Back to Preceding Week; on to Next Week

Up to Top of Page

Back to This Week at
Hilton Pond Center

Current Weather Conditions at Hilton Pond Center

PLEASE SUPPORT EDUCATION & RESEARCH AT
HILTON POND CENTER

Click on the logo below to make a financial gift, or on the logo at right to purchase auction items. Every dollar helps!

PLEASE SIGN OUR GUESTBOOK

You can also
post questions for
The Piedmont Naturalist

Join the

Nature Study Network

Search Engine for
Hilton Pond Center

Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Bill Hilton Jr., aka The Piedmont Naturalist, it is the parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Contents of this Web site--including articles and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with the express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To obtain permission for use or for further assistance on accessing this Web site, contact the Webmaster.