Lancashire Photographer
Common greenshield lichen.
Common greenshield Lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata)
If you don’t already know, a lichen is a partnership of two separate organisms: a fungus (some of which produce mushrooms) and an algae (familiar to most people from stagnant ponds), which have agreed to go through life together. Often, both the fungus and the algae can live fruitful and productive lives on their own, and a typical Gardiner resident could go through life completely unaware of their existence, but when they come together to form a lichen, they take on a very different and leafy form, and when wet may take on a pleasing bright green glow….
Lichens are considered a mutualism, a partnership between two species in which both species benefit (as opposed to parasitism, when one species benefits and the other is harmed). In this case, the fungus benefits because it lives off of the sugars that the algae produces, and the algae may benefit because it gets a moist, protected and cozy home nestled in the tissues of the fungus. However, it may be more appropriate to view a lichen as a parasitism—a “fungus that has discovered agriculture,” farming crops of algae in its tissues, the algae held in a sort of agricultural slavery. Lichen researchers have yet to resolve which is the more accurate view of the relationship.
Common greenshield lichen.
Common greenshield Lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata)
If you don’t already know, a lichen is a partnership of two separate organisms: a fungus (some of which produce mushrooms) and an algae (familiar to most people from stagnant ponds), which have agreed to go through life together. Often, both the fungus and the algae can live fruitful and productive lives on their own, and a typical Gardiner resident could go through life completely unaware of their existence, but when they come together to form a lichen, they take on a very different and leafy form, and when wet may take on a pleasing bright green glow….
Lichens are considered a mutualism, a partnership between two species in which both species benefit (as opposed to parasitism, when one species benefits and the other is harmed). In this case, the fungus benefits because it lives off of the sugars that the algae produces, and the algae may benefit because it gets a moist, protected and cozy home nestled in the tissues of the fungus. However, it may be more appropriate to view a lichen as a parasitism—a “fungus that has discovered agriculture,” farming crops of algae in its tissues, the algae held in a sort of agricultural slavery. Lichen researchers have yet to resolve which is the more accurate view of the relationship.