2012-2013 Annual Report Cover Pages

Upright Sunburst Lichen

Colonies begin as small cushions, but soon coalesce and become extensive. Form is highly variable in this species. Individual lobes are either flattened or almost cylindrical, often upright, yellow to pale orange above, and white to yellow below. Soredia occur at the lobe tips. Apothecia are rare. The genus Xanthoria is very similar in color, size, and appearance to Xanthomendoza. Lobes of Xanthoria candelaria are more upright, while those of Xanthomendoza (p. 87) are generally flattened parallel to the substrate. Five species of Xanthoria occur in the Santa Barbara area, and three of them are also found at Sedgwick Reserve.

Nearly 150 species of lichen have been identified on the 5,896 acre UCSB Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley. With funding from John and Heidi Rabel, CCBER has published Lichens of Sedgwick Reserve and Santa Barbara County. This guide helps to identify 56 of the species with descriptions by lichenologist Dr. Shirley Tucker and stunning, full color photographs by Chris Broughton, Professor of Photography at Brook’s Institute, providing a fascinating view of the beauty and complex symbiotic nature of lichens.

Photo Credit: Chris Broughton

Stonewall Rim Lichen

This lichen is very common on rock throughout the west coast, across the continent to New England. It is pale green to whitish, areolate at center with placodioid (lobate) margins on the colony. The apothecial disks at center may be yellow, tan or pale orange, with lighter rims.

Nearly 150 species of lichen have been identified on the 5,896 acre UCSB Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley. With funding from John and Heidi Rabel, CCBER has published Lichens of Sedgwick Reserve and Santa Barbara County. This guide helps to identify 56 of the species with descriptions by lichenologist Dr. Shirley Tucker and stunning, full color photographs by Chris Broughton, Professor of Photography at Brook’s Institute, providing a fascinating view of the beauty and complex symbiotic nature of lichens.

Photo Credit: Chris Broughton

Lace Lichen

This large fruticose lichen is common, hanging from oak branches in fog zones on the West Coast. It is common at Sedgwick, but has been extirpated in the Santa Barbara area due to urbanization. The dull green, strap-shaped, netlike branches and abundant irregular-shaped holes give it a lacy appearance. It has pale cup-shaped apothecia that produce airborne spores. Vegetative propagation occurs by fragmentation.

Its name is derived from Archibald Menzies, explorer of the west coast of North America in the early 1800s, when Ramalina menziesii was first collected.

Nearly 150 species of lichen have been identified on the 5,896 acre UCSB Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley.  With funding from John and Heidi Rabel, CCBER has published Lichens of Sedgwick Reserve and Santa Barbara County. This guide helps to identify 56 of the species with descriptions by lichenologist Dr. Shirley Tucker  and stunning, full color photographs by Chris Broughton, Professor of Photography at Brook’s Institute, providing a fascinating view of the beauty and complex symbiotic nature of lichens.

Photo Credit: Heather Liu

Golden-Eye Lichen

This tiny orange to gold lichen has finely divided branches and is attached at a single point. Cilia (fine hairs) 0.3-0.7 mm long are present on the branches, as well as striking red-orange apothecia with ciliate margins like the sun’s rays. While small and not common, this species is so striking that it stands out, even among arrays of Ramalina or other lichens.

Nearly 150 species of lichen have been identified on the 5,896 acre UCSB Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley.  With funding from John and Heidi Rabel, CCBER has published Lichens of Sedgwick Reserve and Santa Barbara County. This guide helps to identify 56 of the species with descriptions by lichenologist Dr. Shirley Tucker  and stunning, full color photographs by Chris Broughton, Professor of Photography at Brook’s Institute, providing a fascinating view of the beauty and complex symbiotic nature of lichens.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Thorsch

Flame Firedot Lichen

This lichen forms brilliant orange to red-orange patches on rock. The margins are placodioid (somewhat lobed), and the center is dotted with orange apothecia. Caloplaca impolita is somewhat more yellow especially at the margins, while Caloplaca ignea is uniformly orange to red-orange.

Nearly 150 species of lichen have been identified on the 5,896 acre UCSB Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley.  With funding from John and Heidi Rabel, CCBER has published Lichens of Sedgwick Reserve and Santa Barbara County. This guide helps to identify 56 of the species with descriptions by lichenologist Dr. Shirley Tucker  and stunning, full color photographs by Chris Broughton, Professor of Photography at Brook’s Institute, providing a fascinating view of the beauty and complex symbiotic nature of lichens.

Photo Credit: Chris Broughton

Crustose Lichens

Colonies of crustose lichens growing on a wooden corral fence at Sedgwick Reserve. Lichens include Caloplaca sp. (orange) and Candelariella vitellina (yellow).

Nearly 150 species of lichen have been identified on the 5,896 acre UCSB Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley.  With funding from John and Heidi Rabel, CCBER has published Lichens of Sedgwick Reserve and Santa Barbara County. This guide helps to identify 56 of the species with descriptions by lichenologist Dr. Shirley Tucker  and stunning, full color photographs by Chris Broughton, Professor of Photography at Brook’s Institute, providing a fascinating view of the beauty and complex symbiotic nature of lichens.

Photo credit: Heather Liu

Bottlebrush Frost Lichen

This species is the most common Physconia at Sedgwick. Lobes are rounded and partly overlapping, somewhat concave, and closely appressed to the substrate. The upper surface is gray to brown, and often white-pruinose, and the lower side pale tan at the edge but darker inward. This species is highly variable in appearance, depending on whether it is in sun or shade. Soredia are abundant, often as continuous marginal bands and in laminal patches toward the center. Few apothecia are seen. Another species, Physconia enteroxantha, is also similar, except for its yellowish medulla (inner tissue), visible at cracks or cuts. The thallus in the photograph was growing on metal of an abandoned farm machine, surrounded by small thalli of a Xanthoria.

Nearly 150 species of lichen have been identified on the 5,896 acre UCSB Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley.  With funding from John and Heidi Rabel, CCBER has published Lichens of Sedgwick Reserve and Santa Barbara County. This guide helps to identify 56 of the species with descriptions by lichenologist Dr. Shirley Tucker  and stunning, full color photographs by Chris Broughton, Professor of Photography at Brook’s Institute, providing a fascinating view of the beauty and complex symbiotic nature of lichens.

Photo Credit: Heather Liu

The Varied Landscape

Panoramic view of a south-facing experimental garden and surrounding landscape at Tejon Ranch. These garden experiments are examining the relationships between tree seedling establishment and microclimate to inform our projections of the effects of climate change on broad-scale tree distributions (June 2013)
Photo Credit: Ian McCullough

The Lonely Oak

A single oak tree on a warm and dry south-facing slope at Tejon Ranch. This research is investigating the microclimatic conditions necessary for oak regeneration to forecast future oak distributions under climate change.
Photo Credit: Ian McCullough

Sowing Seeds of Success

Assistant Specialist Sean McKnight (UCSB) and co-PI Lee Hannah (Bren School and Conservation International) examine one of several common garden experiments at Teakettle Experimental Forest, August 2012
Photo Credit: Ian McCullough

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