Wildlife Wednesday: Weird and Wonderful Lichens, Part 2

by Andy Ames

Wildlife Wednesday, part two. Once you start noticing lichens your whole view of the world changes. Lichens can be found all over - from deserts, to rain forests, to the alpine tundra. Lichens are poikilohydric, meaning they lack the ability to regulate their water or hydration. To compensate, lichens “turn off” or go dormant when dry and “turn on” and photosynthesize when wet. As you can imagine, with our dry climate here in the Estes Valley, lichens are often dormant and grow very slowly.

To learn more about lichens, join us tomorrow, Thursday, March 6, at the Estes Valley Community Center from 6-7 PM for EVWC Presents : Weird and Wonderful Lichens. We hope to see you there.

For more information see https://www.evwatershed.org/.../ev-watershed-presents...

Lichens can take many forms. Fruticose lichens are hair-like or cup-like. Foliose lichens are two sided and wrinkly like lettuce.

Crustose, crusty, lichens are the most common in the Estes Valley. Notice how no lichen overlaps with its neighbor.

We mostly associate lichens with growing on rocks. Lichens have five habitat requirements- water, air, nutrients, light, and a substrate on which to attach. Soil can act as the substrate as long as it is undisturbed and meets the other requirements. Here a bright green soil paint lichen stands out.

Lichens add a splash of color to our environment.

These foliose, or two sided, lichens have an almost choral-like appearance.