Lichen Apprentice Scheme Wales

Wales, for its unit area, has the highest diversity of lichen species in the world. In contrast to this, only three or four people currently resident in Wales can be considered lichen “experts” i.e. have the full range of skills necessary to carry out site surveys, identify the full range of  taxa occurring in Wales (over 1500), and advise on management of lichen species and assemblages.

We are proposing a day looking at saxicolous lichensat Roundton Hill SSSI, which is near Churchstoke in Monts. (32/292949). The leader will be Alan Orange from the National Museum Cardiff. More details to follow.

The field meeting here on 28 October, led by Neil Sanderson, was a great success. Ten people turned up for the event, and (provisionally) 12 taxa were added to the list for the site, three of these were new to the vice-county (Montgomeryshire) and two were new to Wales. One of the latter (Enterographa sorediata) is a UK BAP priority species.

Neil also discussed the characteristics and management of pasture-woodland and the importance for lichens of having a wide range of niches - facilitated by a varied tree age structure (at Gregynog there is a range from relatively young  to very mature trees, to standing and fallen dead trees). "Intra-tree" variation is provided by factors such as leaning trunks, aspect, wound-weeps etc. 

Read the full report from Neil Sanderson

View a set of photos by Tim Wilkins from the visit.

 I just got emailed a link to http://www.ispot.org.uk:8080/webkeys/index.jsp

where there are some quite nice looking simple computer keys to Lichens. Might be worth a look?

The Orielton Field Studies Council Centre near Pembroke are running three introductory lichen courses this year. A five-day course (led by Dr. pat Wolseley) is due to be held during the 9-13 April;  and (as a new initiative) two one-day courses are planned for the 18 March and 26 August (tutors Dr. Pat Wolseley and Dr. Robin Crump). The one-day courses are offered at the very special rate of £20 each.

Full details of each these courses are attached:

We have decided on Friday 18 March for this excursion. I will email details to al those who have expressed an interest so far. If anyone else wishes to come, please indicate in a comment below, or using the contact form.

Alan

A Lichen Red Data List for Wales has recently (Dec. 2010)  been published by Plantlife, with support from the British Lichen Society, Countryside Council for Wales, Welsh Assembly Government and the Wales Biodiversity Partnership.

This is believed to be the first such regional report of threats facing lichen species in Britain and it is hoped that it will help to prioritise future conservation action for these species.

Steve Chambers has suggested a LASW field day, in the form of a trip to Cadair Idris as a "montane taster". This would be open to as many of the "apprentices" as can make it. Steve has offered the following dates (all Fridays): March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8. 

Could you let me know (either by email or in a comment below) if you wish to come and which dates you can make? We will need to have two alternative dates planned in case of inclement weather.

Alan

In 1977 a major review volume of "Lichen Ecology" was published by Academic Press, under the editorship of Mark Seaward of Bradford University. This included a landmark paper by Peter James, David Hawksworth and Francis Rose entitled "Lichen Communities in the British Isles: A Preliminary Conspectus". This has become classic and much cited source and still has much relevance today.

The "Lichen Ecology" volume has never been re-published and is increasingly difficult to obtain, but we have obtained permission from the publishers (Now Elsevier), the editor and the surviving authors to make a PDF version of the Lichen Communities paper for download.

Thanks to Dave Genney at SNH the 2002 publication "Indices of Ecological Continuity for Woodland Epiphytic Lichen Habitats" by Sandy and Brian Coppins, is now available as a PDF online.

Brian recently posted the following comments on the Scottish Lichenology mailing list: