Journal 4: Fungi and Lichen

4/29/19 2:06 pm Licton Springs Park 60° breezy, sunny

            As I approached my site, I did not notice a drastic change, but my site was definitely greener than before. There was a lot more growth everywhere, highlighted by the sun rays coming through the branches of the trees. I think the sun actually made it harder to initially note the increase in vegetation, because I did not know whether there truly was a lot more growth or whether the sun made my site look more full of life.

This is a repeat picture of my site at 1 sq. meter (close-scale).

This is a repeat picture of my site at 50 sq. meter (broad-scale). 

            I also noticed that there were fewer purple flowers on the salmon berry shrubs. At first, I didn’t know why there seemed to be fewer flowers, but upon closer look, I realized that they actually turned green in the process of maturing into the berries themselves.

This is a photo of the purple flower transitioning into the berries. It turned green so I didn't notice it at first.

There was also a lot more horsetail growth. I also heard several birds. It sounded like there were maybe four different calls. I couldn’t identify any of them with my very limited knowledge of bird sounds but one of them consisted of quick, short chirps, while another one sounded more like whistles. I didn’t notice any new species growing. My site doesn’t seem to be too biodiverse, but I will continue to keep an eye out for new species.

In searching for fungi and lichen, I really could not find any obvious fungi and I had a difficult time finding lichen too.

            Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a single mushroom on my site. I looked really hard too, even returning to my site to see if I had missed anything. I did find dust lichens (Lepraria species) on the red alder trees at my site, though. The field guide doesn’t differentiate different dust lichens, saying that “it appears to contain several species as yet undescribed and unnamed” (485). However, I think that I saw Lepraria incana on a red alder tree. It looks like the image in the book that is labeled as this, and it was greenish in tint. I think I also saw white Lepraria lichen on a different red alder tree too. I believe that this would make it a different species.

This is my image of what I think was the Lepraria incana. It was green and grew on a tree that fits the habitat description of the field guide. It was growing on sheltered bark.

This is my image of a white Lepraria lichen. I can't be too sure, but it looks like a dust lichen and the field guide says they can be whitish in color. 

I also found what I think is bark barnacle (Thelotrema lepadinum) on a tree that was near my site. 

This is my photo of what I think is bark barnacle. I'm not too sure on this one because the color is a bit off, but it looks similar to the picture of bark barnacle in the field guide. The habitat description also matches. It was growing on smooth bark in a relatively shady area.

I also found what I think is bitter wart lichen (Petusaria amara). 

This is my photo of I'm not too sure on this one either, and there isn't that much information on the internet for this one and it was not in the field guide. 

I also saw these small white worm-like figures on a log, but I don't know if it's even lichen. It looked interesting (and gross), though. 

These are the white worm-like figures. It could be lichen, but it could also be something else entirely.

I found antlered perfume (Evernia prunastri) and hooded rosette (Physcia adscendens) on a tree that was not on my site, but relatively close by. I don’t know what type of tree it was, but I don’t think it was one of the ones we learned at Ravenna Park or UBNA. The leaves looked unfamiliar.

This is a photo of the antlered perfume lichen that was on an unidentified tree. This wasn't on my site so I didn't log the tree in iNaturalist. The habitat matched the description in the field guide. It was growing on a tree in an open area. 

This is a photo of the hooded rosette lichen. I had to look at images and descriptions of hooded rosette for a while because it looks like a lot of other lichen. I decided that it was hooded rosette because the lobes are smaller than ragbag and waxpaper lichen lobes. It also matched the habitat description for the most part.