We like Lichens

Lichen are much maligned and misunderstood, commonly viewed as a pesky, dried-out type of moss which grows liberally on the tin rooves of houses and sheds, tree bark, road signs and even car windscreens.

In fact, lichens and mosses are very different things. A moss is a plant while a lichen is a “fungi-algae sandwich” or “fungal superstructure”, a community that contains a fungal ‘framework’ in which is embedded algae, cyanobacteria and even yeasts.

A recent, wide-ranging assessment of the conservation status of New Zealand’s indigenous lichens has highlighted the shortage of locally-trained lichenologists (those who study lichens) in New Zealand with more than half of the 2,000 lichens recorded deemed ‘Data Deficient’. This means there wasn’t enough information available for a conservation assessment to be made – simply put, there are not enough lichen experts in New Zealand to survey and document our lichen diversity.

What is so special about lichens?

Lichens act as an early warning system of air quality, as some of them are very sensitive to atmospheric pollutants whilst a few others can flourish. In this way, lichens can be used to monitor our environment, fix atmospheric nitrogen and help fertilise indigenous forests, and potentially remove toxic waste.

However, lichens can also go extinct, and in New Zealand this is beginning to happen. The Department of Conservation assessment identified more than 16 lichens as threatened with extinction due to their ongoing loss of habitat. A further 260 were deemed ‘At Risk’. Although the studies done to date are in their infancy, there is some evidence to suggest lichen diversity is dropping in urban areas; a decline which could be linked to air quality.

Dr Dan Blanchon

But, despite the dearth of resource, New Zealand is continuing to awe and amaze the world lichen community as the unexpected keeps on being discovered. One researcher examining a lichen that lives on barnacles discovered several new species in a single day’s random sampling along West Auckland’s shoreline. In-roads are being made into past ‘Data Deficient’ listings, as more and more people are taking an interest.

Unitec provides unique training in lichenology

The call for more lichenologists is being met by our three-year Bachelor of Applied Science degree which teaches facets of lichenology (the only tertiary institute in New Zealand to do so), and this is starting to have an impact through enhanced research and the discovery of a raft of new species for New Zealand. Many of our graduates are being employed by local and regional authorities and consultancies, in part because they have lichen identification skills.

Dr Peter de Lange

Unitec also operates New Zealand’s only dedicated lichen herbarium. This year, the herbarium reached around 10,000 specimens, maintaining a record of the lichen diversity of the North Island in particular, but also many of New Zealand’s outer islands, including the Kermadec and Chatham Islands. Our Head of Environmental and Animal Sciences and curator of the herbarium, Dr Dan Blanchon, is currently undertaking research to see if lichens can be transplanted or ‘sewn’ into restoration projects, appreciating the vital role that lichens play in our natural ecosystems.

The new threat listing is available on the Department of Conservation website – New Zealand Threat Classification Series –  27. Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous lichens and lichenicolous fungi, 2018.

Dr Peter de Lange, Associate Professor at our School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, was instrumental in the recent Department of Conservation listing. Listen as he discusses lichen on ‘Nights with Bryan Crump’ on RNZ National.