• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

lichen

Deadwood: The Importance of Standing Dead Trees

January 28, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

standing dead tree by Katherine YardSome of the most important trees in your woodlot are the ones that are no longer alive. Large, standing dead or dying trees — called snags — are an important component of healthy forests and a critical habitat feature for wildlife.

They provide places for many birds and mammals to forage, den, nest, perch, and roost. Snags are particularly important for cavity nesting birds like woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees; for bats that roost within cavities, crevices, and flaky bark; and for countless species that rely on the abundant insects, fungi, and lichens as a food source. [Read more…] about Deadwood: The Importance of Standing Dead Trees

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: birds, Forestry, fungi, insects, lichen, small mammals, trees, Wildlife

Reindeer Lichen: Fungus and Algae Living Together

December 10, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Cladonia rangiferina reindeer lichenOne of the primary winter foods for reindeer is reindeer lichen, also known as reindeer moss. These are puffy, many-branched, pale green or grayish-white lichens up to 4½ inches tall, spongy to the touch when damp.

Multiple species of reindeer lichen cover extensive areas of ground in the Arctic tundra and Canadian boreal forest and also grow on mountain summits and at other sites throughout the Northeast. [Read more…] about Reindeer Lichen: Fungus and Algae Living Together

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature Tagged With: alpine ecology, boreal ecology, botany, Christmas, High Peaks, lichen, Science

Lichens and Birds’ Nests

April 16, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Blue-gray gnatcatcher courtesy Wikimedia user Erikwlyon Birds use a wonderful variety of materials and techniques to create their nests. Some nests are small and tidy, like grass baskets lined with cozy feathers. Others are large and messily blobbed with mud.

Some species build their nests in trees, some on the ground, and others woven into wetland plants or adhered to cliff faces – or your back porch wall.

I’ve spotted and admired many birds’ nests, but never one made by a ruby-throated hummingbird or a blue-gray gnatcatcher. This is likely because both species shingle their nests with lichens, making them exceptionally well camouflaged. [Read more…] about Lichens and Birds’ Nests

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: birding, birds, hummingbirds, lichen, nature, Wildlife

Colorful Lichens

December 18, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

british soldier lichen courtesy Louise K. Broman EPA As I stroll through the cemetery near my home on a snowy day, splashes of golden orange, bright as daylilies in July, pop from the gray stones. These patches are elegant sunburst lichens, which provide a vibrant example of just how colorful lichens can be. Lichens come in a wonderful range of colors, from the subtle pale green of old man’s beard to the brilliant yellow of goldspeck lichens. While these colors can be beautiful, they are also useful, as the pigments block harmful ultraviolet rays, allow lichens to absorb light as heat, and protect them from harmful microbes. [Read more…] about Colorful Lichens

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: lichen, nature, Science, wildflowers, Wildlife

Northeast Mountain Ecology: A Primer

August 21, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

ADK summit steward talking to hiker in alpine zone in adirondacksHikers climbing the Northeast’s highest peaks will traverse several different vegetative zones along the way. On the summits, they’ll likely encounter plants so hardy that many also grow in the Arctic, thousands of miles to the north. [Read more…] about Northeast Mountain Ecology: A Primer

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: alpine ecology, Climate Change, Environmental History, hiking, lichen, Native Plants, nature, trees, Wildlife

Lichens in Winter

February 14, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

TOS_Lichen-on-treeIn a February forest, evergreens provide welcome color. But look more closely on the bark of trees, both conifers and hardwoods, and you’ll find other bright hues, from sunny yellows to blue-greens. These are lichens, common but often overlooked members of the winter woods.

Lichens have varied and intricate growth patterns, but with their small stature, they can be easy to miss. While they often seem plant-like, they are actually a symbiosis between fungi and one or two other kinds of organisms, algae and cyanobacteria. They are tough customers, surviving in habitats that thwart many other organisms, including the arid and exposed surfaces of rocks. [Read more…] about Lichens in Winter

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: lichen, nature, Wildlife, winter

Lichens Only Look Guilty

June 17, 2020 by Paul Hetzler 1 Comment

tree covered with leafy foliose lichens and shrubby fruticose lichens courtesy Wikimedia user MichaelMaggsThe high school I attended was too small to have football or track-and-field, which was no great loss, as the only sport I have ever been good at is jumping to conclusions.

We all know correlation does not equal causation, but when appearances point to a culprit, it’s hard to resist. If a baseball just smashed through your window and there’s a kid with a ball glove out in the yard, most of us would not feel any need to investigate further. [Read more…] about Lichens Only Look Guilty

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: lichen, Native Plants, nature, trees, Wildlife

Primary Sidebar

Help Support The Almanack

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • James S. Kaplan on New York State Canals Bicentennial: Some History & Plans For Celebrations
  • M Raff on Deep Time: Lake Ontario’s Lucky Stones & Fossils
  • N. Couture on Iroquois and the Invention of the Empire State
  • Bob on Are Baby Boomers The Worst Generation?
  • Anonymous on Gymnastics History: The Legacy of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn’s Turnerism
  • Editorial Staff on Women at Seneca Knitting Mill in Seneca Falls
  • B cottingham-kleckner on Women at Seneca Knitting Mill in Seneca Falls
  • Landscaping By G. Pellegrino on Work Begins On Bayard Cutting Arboretum Visitors Center
  • Colette on Cornwall-on-Hudson Historian Colette Fulton Being Honored
  • Daniel RAPP on Former NY Central Adirondack Division Rails Being Removed

Recent New York Books

“The Amazing Iroquois” and the Invention of the Empire State
american inheritance
Norman Rockwell's Models
The 1947 Utica Blue Sox Book Cover
vanishing point
From the Battlefield to the Stage
field of corpses
Madison's Militia
in the adirondacks

Secondary Sidebar

Mohawk Valley Trading Company Honey, Honey Comb, Buckwheat Honey, Beeswax Candles, Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar
preservation league