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Here, "macro" and "micro" do not refer to size, but to the growth form. [4] Common names for lichens may contain the word moss (e.g., "reindeer moss", "Iceland moss"), and lichens may superficially look like and grow with mosses, but they are not closely related to mosses or any plant.
Saxicolous lichens are those which grow on stone. [111] Lichens can be classified by the substrate on which they grow: Bryophilous lichen – on mosses or liverworts. [111] Hepaticolous lichen – on liverworts. [112] Muscicolous lichen – on mosses. [113] Corticolous lichen – on bark. [111] Ramicolous lichen – on twigs. [113]
Lichens are known in which there is one fungus associated with two or even three algal species. Rarely, the reverse can occur, and two or more fungal species can interact to form the same lichen. [12] Both the lichen and the fungus partner bear the same scientific name, and the lichens are being integrated into the classification schemes for fungi.
With the exception of calicioid lichens, lichen growth forms are based on the appearance of the thallus, which is the vegetative (non-reproductive) part of the lichen. [5] In most species, this form is determined by the lichen's fungal partner, though in a small number, it is instead the alga or cyanobacteria (the lichen's photosynthetic ...
Lichens are symbiotic organisms that play an important role in the biogeochemical cycle on Earth. The characteristics of lichens, such as strong resistance to factors such as desiccation, ability to grow and break down rocks allow lichen to grow in different types of environment including highly nitrogen limited area such as subarctic heath.
Lichenology has found applications beyond biology itself in the field of geology in a technique known as lichenometry where the age of an exposed surface can be found by studying the age of lichens growing on them. Age dating in this way can be absolute or relative because the growth of these organisms can be arrested under various conditions.
Letharia vulpina, commonly known as the wolf lichen (although the species name vulpina, from vulpine relates to the fox), is a fruticose lichenized species of fungus in the family Parmeliaceae. It is bright yellow-green, shrubby and highly branched, and grows on the bark of living and dead conifers in parts of western and continental Europe and ...
About one-third of all lichen photobionts are cyanobacteria, while the remaining two-thirds are green algae. [2] Some lichens host both green algae and cyanobacteria alongside their fungal component. These are known as "tripartite" lichens. In most lichens, the photobiont forms an extensive layer covering much of the lichen body (the thallus).