Jesse, the undergraduate from University of Maine-Fort Kent, took on studying the Follmania patch as his own project. Peter and he studied the abundance of thalli and took tissue samples. They will analyze the DNA in these samples to see if all the thalli are closely related or if they came from several events of colonization through wind dispersal of lichen fragments.
Tiny orange lichen tumbleweeds, finished up at Alto Patache and heading south to the next fog oasis.1/10/2016 We finished sampling lichens from 350-750 m on the rocky face of Alto Patache and were wrapping up our stay there. On our way back to camp, we decided to take a short walk north along the rim of the ridge that faces the ocean during which we saw fields of small, orange lichens that none of us had seen before. We had known about vagrant (free-living, growing unattached to anything and blowing around in the wind) lichen patches elsewhere at Alto Patache but this time, we found a colony of a bright orange lichen growing almost vagrantly nearby our camp. We observed Follmania orthoclada (aka. Caloplaca orthoclada) in a large, nearly pure patch about 0.1 sq km in size growing nearly fruticose (like little bushes). We interpret this grow form to mean the lichen is taking advantage of the frequent dense fog on this hilltop. The thalli we saw often had tiny lobes that, instead of growing attached to the rocks, were pointing upwards like tiny little fog catching fingers. This patch appears to have been created by small pieces of the lichen being blown in from the strong westerly winds. F. orthoclada is also very interesting because it looks almost identical to species found in the fog deserts of Namibia in southwestern Africa. This is likely a case of convergent evolution where two unrelated species both evolved similar morphologies to capture fog. Jesse, the undergraduate from University of Maine-Fort Kent, took on studying the Follmania patch as his own project. Peter and he studied the abundance of thalli and took tissue samples. They will analyze the DNA in these samples to see if all the thalli are closely related or if they came from several events of colonization through wind dispersal of lichen fragments. We are now heading 800 km south to another fog oasis in Pan de Azucar National Park to set up similar research infrastructure there. While still very foggy, Pan de Azucar also receives more rain which nourishes many large cacti and shrubs. Check in soon for updates at our next park.
9 Comments
Gretchen
1/14/2016 10:46:28 pm
Fantastic photos and very informative text. Am enjoying the Chilean desert from a distance.
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10/6/2022 03:17:54 am
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10/23/2022 05:43:33 am
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12/20/2022 03:03:01 pm
İnstagram takipçi satın almak istiyorsan tıkla.
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1/7/2023 04:58:31 pm
100 tl deneme bonusu veren siteleri öğrenmek istiyorsan tıkla.
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6/29/2023 04:57:00 pm
En iyi ağrı ilan sitesi burada. https://agri.escorthun.com/
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