A very pleasurable, leisurely day with Cumbria Lichen and Bryophyte Group on Dale Head in the sun: Schaereria cinereorufa (scaly squamules) and Lecidoma demissum (melting chocolate apothecia) found near the summit. #LichenGBI

Riggindale Beck, Haweswater, recently. Good #lichen on rock. Lots of jelly Collema glebulentum. Also Dermatocarpon miniatum (medulla I-, spores right size) and copious Ephebe hispidula (tiny bushy thallus, conidia v small). Some base-rich water/rock, too much bad algae=nitrogen pollution. #lichengbi

Beautiful #lichen recently on N Harris hills, #outerhebrides, growing on heather stems. Apothecia several per wart, poriform, shades of pink and cream on a filmy white thallus. This is Ochrolechia xanthostoma, found in acid montane habitats or nr sea level in N of Scotland #lichengbi

🏅 Shortlisted for the 2025 Robert May prize! 🏅 In his blog post, @robboyd.bsky.social talks about his paper 'Using causal diagrams and superpopulation models to correct geographic biases in biodiversity monitoring data' 🌍 🧪 Read the blog and find the full article 👇 buff.ly/a7UROJJ

Robin Boyd: Using causal diagrams and superpopulation models to correct geographic biases in biodiversity monitoring data

Throughout March, we are featuring articles shortlisted for the 2025 Robert May Prize. The Robert May Prize is awarded by the British Ecological Society each year for the best paper in Methods in E…

methodsblog.com

😍 Great to see some lichen love from April Windle of the @britishlichensociety.org.uk, plus our own Bill Bealey explaining how our LicheN app is used for measuring sensitivity to nitrogen pollution Featured on BBC News ⤵️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 🧪

How lichen hold the secret to a breath of fresh air

An app uses lichen to help monitor air quality in places like the New Forest.

bbc.co.uk

Enjoyable Saturday in the woods near Tilberthwaite with Cumbria Lichen and Bryophyte Group. Lots of good acid bark stuff including (everybody's) favourites Cetrelia olivetorum; Hypotrachyna laevigata and Bunodophoron melanocarpum. #LichenGBI

From the NHS to our energy grid, we are too reliant on US tech. Sign the petition to stop Trump's kill switch and demand digital independence: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...

Stop the "Kill Switch": Demand the UK takes back control of our technology.

From the NHS to our energy grid, we are too reliant on US tech. Help us demand digital independence.

you.38degrees.org.uk

Hear from Scot ex-diplomat Craig Murray independent journalist in Venezuela - seems very normal, with no shortages, no repression and good 4G! "Pretty well everything that I have read by Western journalists...turns out to be an absolute lie" www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/202... gofund.me/e98247481

Being There - In Venezuela - Craig Murray

I have now been in Caracas for 48 hours and the contrast between what I have seen, and what I had read in the mainstream media, could not be more stark. I drove right through Caracas, from the airport...

craigmurray.org.uk

Some more lichens from Knapdale today: Pectenia plumbea s. str., Lobaria pulmonaria on rock, Lobarina scrobiculata + Sticta limbata and Bunodophoron melanocarpum. #LichenGBI

Some tiny lichens in Knapdale: Porina multipuncta, Pyrrhospora quernea, Snippocia nivea and Parmeliella parvula. #LichenGBI

Does Parmotrema crinitum have fruit like this? Or is it an LF? #LichenGBI

The next star lichen find is Menegazzia terebrata on a north-facing damp rock outcrop with perforations in the lobes and soralia at the lobe ends. #LichenGBI

One of our star lichen finds today in Knapdale was Pseudocyphellaria citrina (Yellow specklebelly) with lots on one willow and some on some nearby rocks. The yellow colour somewhat dulled perhaps due to being wet. #LichenGBI

Today we visited the woods at Ardminish south of Loch Stornoway in Knapdale - some lovely 'temperate rainforest' but spoiled by rhododendron that's already spreading badly. In 10/20 years much lichen, bryophyte, fungi and flora will be lost. Spread from nearby gardens and big houses. #LichenGBI

My photos of Wilson's Filmy-fern (Hymenophyllum wilsonii) today at Knapdale aren't as clear as yesterday's Tunbridge, but they do show the slightly different green, curled down fronds and untoothed sporangia.

In Knapdale today, this lichen might be Parmotrema pseudoreticulatum with a fine network of lines on the upper surface. No rhizines at the underside edge. #LichenGBI

In Knapdale today was Tunbridge Filmy-fern (Hymenophyllum tunbrigense) - pale green and flat jizz, with jagged sporangia indusia.

We're in Knapdale for the week to explore the scattered oceanic woodlands and coastal rocks for lichens, starting with Cetrelia olivetorum, Leptogium cyanescens and Pannaria rubiginosa. #LichensGBI

I'm starting to organise our seemingly extensive lichen herbarium into boxes with home made cardboard dividers. I'm going to need to buy some more boots! #LichenGBI

More lichens from the dry-stone walls, ash and hazel trees of Swindale: Physcia tribacia, Normandina chlorococca, Peltigera horizontalis and Pertusaria pertusa. #LichenGBI

In Swindale yesterday was a young Spring hazelcup (Encoelia furfuracea) fungus with a pale brown scurfy external surface. The inside opens up to release spores from the inner surface. #BBCSpringwatch #BBCwinterwatch @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social

Also in Swindale on a siliceous rock outcrop was Psilolechia lucida lichen, a bright-light-green that glows orange in UV, with rare pale orange apothecia. #LichenGBI

Just beside the last sighting on hazel was Arthopyrenia cerasi, similar to A analepta but with 3-septate spores. It has separate perithecia, not a stroma. The asci are cylindrical, biseriate and the spores are 3-septate. Interascal strands visible, probably anastomosed pseudoparaphyses. #LichenGBI

Yesterday in Swindale, Caz spotted these flattened black patches on hazel bark - but lumpy when viewed close up. This is lichen Tomasellia gelatinosa with each patch a stroma containing multiple perithecia-like locales with 3-septate spores inside. #LichenGBI

UK OFFICIAL: HIGH confidence: * Global ecosystem degradation and collapse threaten UK national security and prosperity * Ecosystem degradation is occurring across all regions. Every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse www.gov.uk/government/p...

Nature security assessment on global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security

This strategic assessment explores how global biodiversity loss and the collapse of critical ecosystems could affect the UK’s resilience, security and prosperity.

gov.uk

On an oak from near Haweswater was Bacidia rubella with small but not tiny granules for the thallus, pale-red-brown apothecia with margin, thin acicular spores, a relatively tall hymenium and a largely colourless section. But Bacidia/Bacidina are always tricky. #LichenGBI

We also found Mycobilimbia sphaeroides lichen at the base of an ash lower down the slope in Naddle Forest at Haweswater. The ash also has other nice lichens including a small amount of Parmeliella thriptophylla. #LichenGBI

We also checked out a known fallen ash tree at Haweswater which has dying Lobaria pulmonaria lichen on the stump and fallen trunk. Good to refind several patches of very small fruit of Scytinium subtile jelly on the ash lignum. #LichenGBI @britishlichensociety.org.uk @wildhaweswater.bsky.social

Checked on some more Lobaria pulmonaria lichen translocations today: the same mixture of some good ones, some OK and a few failed or near-as. #LichenGBI

Out near Haweswater today, an ash tree still has existing Lobaria pulmonaria thalli, much the same size as 2020, but the Peltigera hortizontalis lichen has expanded greatly since then. Unfortunately the ash won't survive forever. #LichenGBI