Lichens

Professor Anne Pringle examining lichen in a local cemetery and at the Harvard Forest.

Click on pictures to see a larger image.

Where do you work?

I work at Harvard University's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

What do you study?

I explore how seemingly immobile and often symbiotic organisms move across landscapes, particularly in the contexts of anthropogenic change.

What are three titles you would give yourself?

Mycologist, ecologist, writer

What do you like to do when you are not working?

I take care of my two little girls, ages 10 and 7.

What do you like most about science?

The creative process.  I like challenging paradigms, discovery, and I like teaching others about how the world works.

Here you will find intriguing extras: segments our producers weren't able to fit into a five-minute podcast as well as images, interesting facts and ways to get involved or in touch with biodiversity wherever you live.

Audio

What do lichens have to do with reindeer and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster? Anne Pringle explains.

Hear Anne Pringle describe the beauty of lichens, including some you might encounter on a walk near you.

Images

View a slideshow of lichens from Ari’s walk in the Cambridge’s Old Burying Ground and see the bacterial gardens Benjamin Wolfe discovered when he looked at lichen through a microscope.

Facts

Would you like some lichen with that? In most of the Western hemisphere, lichen has been a food of last resort during famines, or used as fodder for livestock. But in other parts of the world, it’s been a valued part to the diet. Scandinavian countries feast on Iceland moss . A species of Umbilicaria, U. esculenta, sometimes called rock tripe, has been collected as food in Korea and Japan for centuries.

Tree moss, was used by the ancient Egyptians to embalm their mummies and tons are harvested in France for use in perfume.

Lichens take a multitude of shapes and forms. They can cover rocks like paint, or resemble hair, leaves, or scales . Some are powdery, and some are even gelatinous.

Lichens are important to our understanding of Earth’s climate. Lichenometry is the science of using lichens to date the age of the advance and retreat of glaciers. Xanthoria elegans, a bright orange sunburst lichen, was one of the first lichens used to date glaciers this way. 

Participate

Want to start a lichen-monitoring project to track pollution and climate change were you live? This article gives tips on getting started with your school, club, or group. This article, originally from Green Teacher, explains how and lists links and references.

You can also try your hand at using lichens to date a wall or tombstone, using the instructions on this science-fair website.