![\"Lichens](\"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/flaky-lichen-on-branch.jpg\")
Low Profile, Big Role<\/h2>\n
Though lichens fly entirely below the radar of most people, they nonetheless provide crucial benefits to the environment. They contribute to the first stage of weathering the rocks on which they live, creating tiny crevasses into which water\u2019s freezing\/thawing action can permeate. Rock disintegration provides the raw material for building soil. In cryptobiotic soils, lichens bind soil particles together. These fragile, crusty soils trap blowing dust, prevent erosion, and add nutrients. The decay of dead lichens contributes nitrogen to the soil. Some even host nitrogen fixing bacteria.<\/p>\n
Caribou, mule deer, mountain goats, moose, and pronghorn all use lichen for forage, especially in winter. Birds incorporate them into their nests. Some native tribes, especially in boreal areas have concocted many ways to prepare lichens for human consumption. Lichens have been used to make dyes for thousands of years, and they can be used in making perfume. Some have medicinal qualities. If that were not enough, scientists can even use lichen growth patterns for dating stone structures, similar to dendrochronology.<\/p>\n
Lichens absorb whatever is in the air around them, including common pollutants like sulphur dioxide (produced by burning coal), fluoride, ozone, hydro-carbons and some heavy metals. This ability makes them very sensitive to changes in air quality and important indicators to what is in the atmosphere, making them the canary in the coal mine for atmospheric degradation.<\/p>\n Human activities have had devastating effects on lichen health. The usual culprits: urbanization, other types development, habitat fragmentation and pollution destroy their environments. Hiking, over-grazing, even rock climbing can have severely detrimental effects on lichens. In some areas lichens have been almost completely eliminated.<\/p>\n Next time you\u2019re out hiking, open your eyes and notice them. Take your hand lens with you on your next hike and pause to examine them up close. They are colorful, beautiful, and wondrous. There are so many reasons to like lichens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On a recent hike in the foothills I took a short break and sat on a flat rock. It was an ordinary rock, but what\u2019s ordinary when you really take a good look at it? Idly, I started counting the types of lichens I could distinguish. There were five! Continuing on my walk I couldn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-spring-2016"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Various](\"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/USFWS-lichens-color-gary-stolz.png\")
different species share this rock. They have existed on earth for at least 400 million years, giving them lots of time to diversify.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHardy, But Not Invincible<\/h2>\n