Study
Lichen Biology
Nash, Thomas H.
Cambridge University Press, 2008
A monograph synthesising lichen structure, physiology, ecology and systematics: the fungal and photosynthetic partners, thallus organisation, water relations, growth rates, secondary chemistry and distribution.
- Studied in
- Lecanoromycetes, Trebouxia
- Sample size
- monographic synthesis of lichen biology
A lichen is a stable association between a fungus, which forms the body, and a photosynthetic partner — a green alga, a cyanobacterium, or both — housed inside it. Lichens have no roots and no cuticle, absorbing water and dissolved substances directly across the whole surface, and desiccate and rehydrate passively with the weather. Growth is slow, often a fraction of a millimetre to a few millimetres a year.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
The lichen is best understood as a distinct kind of organism arising from symbiosis, with properties belonging to neither partner alone.
How NatureHQ reads it
Two consequences follow from having no roots and no waterproofing, and they explain nearly every lichen question people ask. Lichens grow on rock and bark because they need a surface, not soil — they take nothing from the tree, which is why they are not parasites. And because they absorb everything that lands on them without filtering, they accumulate whatever is in the air, which is why their presence and absence maps onto air quality so reliably.
- A synthesis; growth rates and physiology vary enormously between growth forms.
- Predates the discovery of additional partners in many macrolichens.
- Temperate species are far better characterised than tropical ones.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
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Published by: Academic book publishersPublished as an academic monograph.
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