Nature Finds a Way
Shannon Jones | December 2017
The first time I ever heard of lichen was in highschool. Of course, I had seen them countless times but never thought anything of them. My AP Environmental Science teacher had taken my class out to take a look at these crusty little wonders. At the time, I didn’t think they were wonders at all. I just wanted to do the what I had to do to get an A, and gossip to my friends about what Destiny told me in Calculus class, that she heard from Tori, who told Destiny not to tell anyone, who told me not to tell, and I assumed by best friends Jenna and Alison where an acception.
We were instructed to takes pictures of the lichen out in a patch of forest next to my high school, which has since been cut down to build more tennis courts. This assignment was part of an overall theme of the class that was “nature finds a way.” I was younger at the time and didn’t take the opportunity to really think about what my teacher was showing us. But looking back I realize that, in the context of this theme, lichens are pretty spectacular. They are the epitome of “nature finds a way.”
Lichen can belong to three different growth forms: Crustose, foliose, or fruticose. They can tolerate the most extreme environments including hot dry places, arctic conditions and the wettest of rainforests. They can tolerate salty conditions and immersion in water. Lichens can live on soil, woody debris, rocks, tree bark, tree leaves, other lichens, desert sand, animal bones, rusty metal, and they’ve even traveled to space. Some lichens were exposed to the vacuum of space for several days and then they were brought back down and wet again and they lived to tell the story no problem.
They are known as nature's pioneers. Being first to colonize the most inhospitable places. From there they begin the slow process of creating the foundation for other habitation. There are lichens growing in the Arctic that are 8,600 years old and thought to be the oldest living organisms on the planet. So, they’re pretty tough little guys, and they’ve seen a lot of shit.
There are about 17,000 identified lichen species, and they can come in every shape and size. When taking a walk in nature you might see bright splashes of color across rocks, long things that look like beards dangling from trees, spiky coral looking creatures on tree branches, or frizzy little troll hair poofs growing out of rocks.
So, what even are these things? Well, one lichen is actually multiple things. They are a mash-up of alga and a fungus living symbiotically together. This is a symbiosis not just between two species but two entirely different kingdoms that cooperate to make this new life form. The fungus sort of provides a home for the alga and protects it from the harsh elements of the environment like UV radiation, extreme temperatures, and drying out too much. What the alga is doing in return is producing food, basically sugars and things like that, that are consumed by the fungus. So, the fungus makes the home and the alga puts dinner on the table, and it has to do it everyday.
This is where humans can look to lichens for inspiration. It’s amazing that an inter-kingdom cooperation like this exists because it’s so hopeful. Humans, members of the same species, can’t even get along and make it work, but these two kingdoms can come together and live peacefully and sustainably. But, as amazing and tough as these organisms are, they do have an achilles heel.
Lichens don’t have roots, so they get a lot of their nutrients from the air and are very sensitive to air pollution. They are actually used as bioindicators of air quality. Meaning that even the smallest amount of air pollution can lead to a big decline in their population, and scientist use the absence of lichen, in a place where they are supposed to be present, as a sign that the air quality in that area must be bad. I don’t blame the lichen. Who wants to breathe bad air?Lichens aren’t the only species that are sensitive to air pollution. In fact, no species is safe from it. From insects to fish to humans, we all interact with the air in some way.
Deforestation and climate change also put pressure on lichen. Since they are so tough, they could easily tolerate just deforestation, or just climate change, but this two things combine plus air pollution put up a good fight against lichen. It has been predicted that as air quality continues to worsen, climate continues to change, and deforestation continues to occur that these unique organisms could be extinct within a century or so. Climate change is exacerbating the threat posed to lichen by air pollution. There are types of air pollution that are worsened by increased heat. Smog forms when the weather is warmer and there is more ultraviolet radiation. Also, as the climate changes, a lot of lichen species can’t migrate north fast enough to keep up with their moving habitat. Or their habitat simply disappears because they were living at the tops of mountains before the climate warmed and once you’re at the top there’s nowhere else to go.
On that day in high school we had no problem spotting tons of lichen. We didn’t even have to go past the tree line because there were so many. The school ended up losing funding for the tennis courts, so now those woods are just a big dirt patch of red clay. This is discouraging, but the lesson that my teacher taught me gives me hope in the face of misfortunes like this one. I believe that nature will always find a way, but I hope for a world where it doesn’t have such a hard time.
Shannon Jones | December 2017
The first time I ever heard of lichen was in highschool. Of course, I had seen them countless times but never thought anything of them. My AP Environmental Science teacher had taken my class out to take a look at these crusty little wonders. At the time, I didn’t think they were wonders at all. I just wanted to do the what I had to do to get an A, and gossip to my friends about what Destiny told me in Calculus class, that she heard from Tori, who told Destiny not to tell anyone, who told me not to tell, and I assumed by best friends Jenna and Alison where an acception.
We were instructed to takes pictures of the lichen out in a patch of forest next to my high school, which has since been cut down to build more tennis courts. This assignment was part of an overall theme of the class that was “nature finds a way.” I was younger at the time and didn’t take the opportunity to really think about what my teacher was showing us. But looking back I realize that, in the context of this theme, lichens are pretty spectacular. They are the epitome of “nature finds a way.”
Lichen can belong to three different growth forms: Crustose, foliose, or fruticose. They can tolerate the most extreme environments including hot dry places, arctic conditions and the wettest of rainforests. They can tolerate salty conditions and immersion in water. Lichens can live on soil, woody debris, rocks, tree bark, tree leaves, other lichens, desert sand, animal bones, rusty metal, and they’ve even traveled to space. Some lichens were exposed to the vacuum of space for several days and then they were brought back down and wet again and they lived to tell the story no problem.
They are known as nature's pioneers. Being first to colonize the most inhospitable places. From there they begin the slow process of creating the foundation for other habitation. There are lichens growing in the Arctic that are 8,600 years old and thought to be the oldest living organisms on the planet. So, they’re pretty tough little guys, and they’ve seen a lot of shit.
There are about 17,000 identified lichen species, and they can come in every shape and size. When taking a walk in nature you might see bright splashes of color across rocks, long things that look like beards dangling from trees, spiky coral looking creatures on tree branches, or frizzy little troll hair poofs growing out of rocks.
So, what even are these things? Well, one lichen is actually multiple things. They are a mash-up of alga and a fungus living symbiotically together. This is a symbiosis not just between two species but two entirely different kingdoms that cooperate to make this new life form. The fungus sort of provides a home for the alga and protects it from the harsh elements of the environment like UV radiation, extreme temperatures, and drying out too much. What the alga is doing in return is producing food, basically sugars and things like that, that are consumed by the fungus. So, the fungus makes the home and the alga puts dinner on the table, and it has to do it everyday.
This is where humans can look to lichens for inspiration. It’s amazing that an inter-kingdom cooperation like this exists because it’s so hopeful. Humans, members of the same species, can’t even get along and make it work, but these two kingdoms can come together and live peacefully and sustainably. But, as amazing and tough as these organisms are, they do have an achilles heel.
Lichens don’t have roots, so they get a lot of their nutrients from the air and are very sensitive to air pollution. They are actually used as bioindicators of air quality. Meaning that even the smallest amount of air pollution can lead to a big decline in their population, and scientist use the absence of lichen, in a place where they are supposed to be present, as a sign that the air quality in that area must be bad. I don’t blame the lichen. Who wants to breathe bad air?Lichens aren’t the only species that are sensitive to air pollution. In fact, no species is safe from it. From insects to fish to humans, we all interact with the air in some way.
Deforestation and climate change also put pressure on lichen. Since they are so tough, they could easily tolerate just deforestation, or just climate change, but this two things combine plus air pollution put up a good fight against lichen. It has been predicted that as air quality continues to worsen, climate continues to change, and deforestation continues to occur that these unique organisms could be extinct within a century or so. Climate change is exacerbating the threat posed to lichen by air pollution. There are types of air pollution that are worsened by increased heat. Smog forms when the weather is warmer and there is more ultraviolet radiation. Also, as the climate changes, a lot of lichen species can’t migrate north fast enough to keep up with their moving habitat. Or their habitat simply disappears because they were living at the tops of mountains before the climate warmed and once you’re at the top there’s nowhere else to go.
On that day in high school we had no problem spotting tons of lichen. We didn’t even have to go past the tree line because there were so many. The school ended up losing funding for the tennis courts, so now those woods are just a big dirt patch of red clay. This is discouraging, but the lesson that my teacher taught me gives me hope in the face of misfortunes like this one. I believe that nature will always find a way, but I hope for a world where it doesn’t have such a hard time.