Monthly Lecture of Wildlife and Nature Protection Society Living with the Lichens

To be held at the Jasmine Hall, BMICH on 13th December at 6p.m.

Across the world, species, particularly species rich in ecosystems are being replaced by less complex landscapes due to human impacts in the Anthropocene. There is now a great urgency to document and conserve the biota of the world in order to establish baseline data for understanding patterns of change and resilience in the environment at both regional and global scales. Cryptogams, including lichens are more often ignored and unacknowledged, although they play a vital role in the ecosystem.   

Lichens are self-contained miniature ecosystems and behave as good farmers in the nature. It is estimated that 6% of the Earth’s land surface is covered by lichens. There are about 20,000 known species of lichens. Some lichens have lost the ability to reproduce sexually, but nevertheless continue to speciate.  

Lichens are found growing almost everywhere in the world from sea level to high alpine elevations, in many environmental conditions, and can grow on virtually any surface including man-made structures - glass, tiles, fibre, rubber, concrete etc. Longest living lichens recorded from Arctic and Antarctic continents which are over 3000 years old are considered to be among the oldest living organisms.   

Lichens play a vital role as bio-indicators of air pollution, ozone depletion, metal contamination and climate change since they are extremely sensitive to environmental changes. Although it goes unnoticed, many animals including humans depend on lichens - mimicry, to capture food, bedding and housing, dyes, antibiotics, perfumes, tea, flavouring agents etc. Tropical regions in the world are the hot spots for lichens. During the last 5 years over 80 new species were discovered in Sri Lanka. For lichen family Graphidaceae, Sri Lanka has been identified as the world’s hot spot. However, these fascinating organisms have not received due attention. Most of the lichens are exclusively found in specific habitats in the country and are point endemics. There is an urge to identify these organisms and conserve in their natural habitats.  

The WNPS Public Lecture is open to all members and non-members. Free Entrance.