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Lichens on a tree infected with ash dieback have been rescued and given a new home in a bid to save them.
The rescue mission, using tried and tested translocation methods, saved 2 rare lichen species in the Lake District. Read on to find out how our experts did it.
We recently discovered 2 rare lichen species at risk in the Lake District’s unique temperate rainforest. They were growing on an infected Ash tree and needed to be moved to ensure they continued to thrive in this habitat.
The tree has been infected with ask dieback meaning it is at a high risk of dying or collapsing in a storm.
Our experts translocated some of the lichen from the infected Ash tree to a nearby Hazel tree in the Lake District, home to some of the UK’s rare temperate rainforests.
The high rainfall, humid temperatures and ancient woodlands provide a perfect climate for rare lichens to survive.
Alongside a beck in the Lake District, our team identified Black-bordered Shingle Lichen and Stinky Sticta on a mature Ash tree.
Stinky Sticta Sticta fuliginosa is so called because it smells like rotten fish when wet! It is blackish brown when wet and dark grey-brown when dry. The lichen has rounded lobes that turn down at the edges.
Black-bordered Shingle Lichen Parmeliella thriptophylla looks like a dark stain on the bark of trees. It has a coral-like structure and can normally be found growing on either bark or rock surfaces in damp shaded woodlands. The lichen is blackish when wet and brown or grey-brown when dry.
Both these lichens are rainforest indicators and are members of a group of lichens that we have an international responsibility to protect.
To translocate the lichens, our experts carefully removed small fragments of both lichens and the top surface of the tree bark with a pen knife. Young and healthy-looking parts of the lichen were chosen as they were still growing.
They were then taken to an area of trees about 10m along the beck, chosen because of their similar conditions, to give the lichens the best chance of survival. In this case, a Hazel tree with similar high bark pH was chosen.
The lichens were attached to the tree using plastic mesh netting and stapled in place.
Both Black-bordered Shingle Lichen and Stinky Sticta need air flow, light and access to water – which the mesh can allow. The lichens were translocated onto a horizontal branch, with similar conditions to their original location, allowing the lichens to be easily wetted by rainfall.
Many lichen species rely on Ash trees for survival .Ash Fraxinus excelsior is especially important for a community of lichens which grow on more alkaline or ‘basic’ tree bark. The survival threat facing Ash trees, caused by ash dieback, means these important habitats are gradually disappearing.
Ash dieback is a fatal fungal disease caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. More than a quarter of the UK’s lichen species can be found on ash trees, but ash dieback is now widespread across much of the UK.
Both lichens in this rescue mission needed to be saved from the infected Ash tree because we did not know how long it would remain a viable host tree. As Ash trees die off, the bark dies and falls from the tree, taking any lichens on the bark with it.
Translocation is never a first option for lichen conservation work, but to ensure the survival of some species, it is necessary.
Careful consideration is given to the species of lichen and the recipient tree in all cases.
This is a long-term project and we won’t know how successful the translocation has been for some time. The Stinky Sticta should show signs of taking to its new tree earlier than Black-bordered Shingle Lichen.
The site will be monitored regularly, but signs of complete success could take up to 10 years to show.
Britain is home to one of the rarest habitats in the world – the temperate rainforest. But how would you know if you were walking in one?
Dave Lamacraft, Plantlife’s Lichen and Bryophyte Specialist, heads out to discover a wealth of extraordinary lichens which call Wales’ rainforests home.
Air pollution often poses the biggest danger to internationally rare habitats and nitrogen gases have the potential to destroy our temperate rainforests.
An incredible story of returning one of England’s rarest lichens to its historic home – more than 350 miles away.
Let’s learn how expert Dave Lamacraft translocated the lichen across the country.
The Scrambled Egg Lichen, a rare and endangered lichen, has been reintroduced to its historic home in East Anglia.
This yellow lichen with a white fungus on top really does look like an egg. But before you start imagining carrying it in a frying pan, let’s follow the amazing journey of transporting this lichen 350 miles.
The Breckland, in the east of England, has suffered more than other places with habitat loss. One of the casualties is the Scrambled Egg Lichen. It became extinct in the Breckland due to habitat loss resulting from changes in farming practices, an increase in tree cover and a loss of rabbits. The Scrambled Egg Lichen is 1 of 3 specialist lichens lost from the region, where they were once common, along with the Starry Breck and Scaly Breck Lichen.
Fortunately, we have found a way to reintroduce it back into the Breckland. Our Lichen and Bryophyte Senior Specialist Dave Lamacraft collected small patches of the lichen from Penhale in Cornwall and transported it using a process called translocation.
The rare Scrambled Egg Lichen Fulgensia fulgens is not just striking, but also a crucial part of the biological soil crust community which stabilises soils and facilitates the growth of other plants. It also hosts a globally rare fungus Lichenochora epifulgens which is even rarer than the Scrambled Egg lichen itself.
The UK is home to globally significant populations of rare lichen species, some of which are found nowhere else on earth. However, lichens face increasing threats from habitat loss, climate change and air pollution. Projects such as this are vital and will help us to reverse these declines.
Translocation is a process used in conservation which involves moving an organism to a new location, where it will hopefully survive and thrive. To translocate the Scrambled Egg Lichen, small patches of the lichen were carefully removed and reattached using a combination of water and bookbinding glue.
Some 200 small pieces of the lichen – about the size of a 20p piece – were removed from Cornwall and 160 transplanted into the Breckland chalky landscape. The site in Cornwall is managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
About 160 lichens were translocated to a small area of about 100m at a site managed by Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
Measuring long term success of this translocation will take a few years, but it is hoped that if successful, the lichen will show evidence of growing after one year and spread naturally afterwards.
None of this work would have been possible without the support from Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust, with funding from Natural England as part of the Species Recovery Programme.
200 small patches of Scrambled Egg Lichen were transported from Cornwall to Norfolk
The Scrambled Egg Lichen was transported to the east of England in seed trays
The lichen was transplanted across an area of about 100m at a site managed by Norfolk Wildlife Trust
Glue and water was used to transplant the lichen
Our meadows have been part of our natural heritage for centuries and cared for by people for generations – but they are now more at risk than ever before.
Read how 2 lichens were saved, from a tree infected with ash dieback, in a translocation rescue mission in the temperate rainforest.
Did you know that the rainforest can glow in the dark? Or that it’s home to plants which were on the Earth before the dinosaurs?
Rob Hodgson started learning about lichens in lockdown, as a complete beginner.
Exploring his hometown of Bristol, he learnt to love these amazing green plants, even bringing them into his work as an illustrator.
“Lichens are cool because they are everywhere. Once you notice them, you realise they are crazy, weird, colourful and interesting.”
Rob Hodgson started his lichen journey in lockdown as a complete beginner. Walking around Bristol one day, a lichen peaked his interest and from then on he was gripped by these secret miniature forests.
As an illustrator, Rob has created dynamic and lifelike lichen characters to help more people starting out.
We went to chat to Rob and join him on a lichen hunt.
“It was kind of my lockdown project and I just got interested one day, like what is this crazy thing. When I first started looking at lichens, you go online and there’s a million Latin names and I was just like, no this isn’t for me – I’m not a lichen expert. But once you learn the common names and you start to spot different ones, it gets easier. You don’t have to go anywhere far away, you can see these things just on the street. There’s one called chewing Chewing Gum lichen that you can see everywhere once you tune into it, just on the pavement.
“You do definitely notice if you go to the countryside, it’s like a lichen explosion. But I live in the centre of Bristol pretty much and there’s still lichens everywhere. On my doorstep, you see them on the pavements, you see them on walls and in my local parks there’s loads of lichens.
It’s a really good time of year to go lichen hunting [autumn/winter] and you don’t need any stuff. You can just go and as soon as you get out of the house you are on a lichen hunt – that’s as easy as it is. You just need to look on the floor, look in the tress and you’re good to go.
“The way I work things out sometimes is through my work. When I was looking at lichens, I thought how can I make this more interesting than all of these super technical, botanical drawings. I drew one, and then once you notice one, you notice another, and then all of sudden I had drawn 20 different lichens.
There was a lot of back and forth between going out and looking at lichens and going back and modifying them.
That was where I was coming from, trying to make them fun and accessible.”
Rob has made beautifully designed lichen characters including dust lichen, shield lichen and oak moss. Follow him on social media here.
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