What's Happening

Mosses, Lichens, and Liverworts
April 18-19, 2015
Cost: $175

Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center, Willamette National Forest, Oregon Cascades

Which forest dweller can turn rock into food? What plants store water for dry periods and can create soil in the upper canopy of ancient forests? Non-vascular plants such as mosses, lichens, and liverworts are drawing increasing attention for their importance as indicators of forest health, air quality and environmental integrity. From air quality indicators and natural water filters to nesting material for birds and mammals, mosses, lichens, and liverworts are invaluable to Pacific Northwest forest ecosystems. Past Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center instructor and forest ecologist John Villella returns for his favorite workshop of the year, and will lead us on a journey through the little known non-vascular plant kingdoms of the Opal Creek wilderness. Opal Creek is home to hundreds of species, many of which are only found in the ancient forests of the northwest. This course is especially helpful for agency personnel who are conducting forest health surveys throughout the state.

The yearly meeting of NW Lichenologists, in conjunction with NW Scientific Association, is coming up in April, 2015. NWSA has just released its call for papers. Please submit an abstract and tell us what you have been doing. 

We a pleased to announce that we now have in hand volume 2 of Monographs in North American Lichenology, entitled Montana Lichens: An Annotated List.

Why would a non-Montanan lichenologist want one?

This is the first comprehensive summary of the occurrence, literature references, and ecological context for lichens in any state or province in the Pacific Northwest or northern Rocky Mountains. Because we also include reports from adjoining states and provinces, the book should be useful in a broad area. The monograph will be an invaluable reference for people delving into crustose lichens.

So far, a total of 1074 species are documented from Montana. Of these, 283 species are new for the state and 19 are new to North America. We discuss the rare, threatened, and endangered lichens of Montana. Priorities for surveys and monitoring are evaluated by placing species in one of eight categories, based on all combinations of global rarity, ease of detection, and habitat vulnerability.

For ordering information, please use the "Store" tab at the new NW Lichenologists website, http://northwest-lichenologists.wildapricot.org

In June 2014 we began a transition to a new web site and method of communication. The new website combines all of our electronic functions into a single package. 

 

The old email list (via lichenguild@NACSE.ORG) will be phased out and ultimately replaced by the News | Blog  and Forum pages on the new website. There you can post the same kinds of announcements, observations, and questions.

 

Event Registration: In the future you can register for events, such as field trips or workshops, via the web site.

 

You can still use our domain name to connect: www.nwlichens.org

Or you can use the new web address: http://northwest-lichenologists.wildapricot.org/

They will take you to the same place.

This is all very new, so there are bound to be some problems. If you find a problem, please let me know.

We are printing a batch of our new, glow-in-the-dark werewolf shirt. For those of you who are out of it, Lycans (werewolves) are the latest craze. You can imagine the misunderstandings that happen between us lichenologisits and the lurking lycanologists.

We will be printing this batch in time for NW Sci Assoc meeting in Montana, and we will be selling pre-ordered and non-ordered shirts there and by mail. If you really want one and care about what size and style you want, please send your order to Daphne Stone by Monday 10 March 2014.

See mock-ups of the 4 styles below. Please realize that the color of the moon, eyes and apothecia will not be this green - they will be a glow-in-the-dark color that will be greenish-white. All shirts will be black - the black is an integral part of the design.

Shirt selection:

• Men's regular T is a normal weight T, 100% cotton.
• Ladies V-neck is lightweight but not sheer or tissue, 100% cotton.
• Ladies T is similar to a regular T but the neckband is narrower, the sleeves and body are fitted and the sleeves are shorter than a regular T, 100% cotton.
• Scoop neck is tissue-weight, runs 1 size smaller than a regular T, and sleeves are cut shorter, 60% cotton/40% polyester.

Please look over the styles and order using the attached order form. If you will not be at NW Science Assoc in Montana, you can pick up from Bruce or locally in Eugene. Others need to arrange for pick-up or else pay for shipping.

This is our way of raising funds for publishing much-needed monographs on lichenology.

Happy Spring!