Monday, 16 February 2015

Lichens on Ash trees

Ash die-back or Chalara (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) could wipe out a large proportion of one of the commonest and most characteristic trees in the British landscape.  If the Ash trees disappear then so will a lot of the species that depend on them, especially lichens and bryophytes.  There are several efforts going on to survey the lichens and bryophytes to find out what may be lost and where. There are a lot of Ash trees in the woodland parts of the Steyning Downland Sheme and I thought I would have a go at finding out which lichens they support.  I am not an expert on lichens and I am using this is a this is an exercise to improve my identification skills.  So far I have found and identified the following:

Lepraria incana, Candellaria reflexa, Hypotrachyna revoluta,  on tree trunks and Xanthoria parietina  and Physcia adscendens on twigs.  They are all very common and none are confined to Ash trees.
Lepraria incana can occur in very large patches on tree trunks  
Xanthoria parietina (yellow) and Physcia adscendens are common on twigs





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