I walked into Bioblitz and was put into the lichen group. When our lichen specialist asked the group what our favorite part about lichens was, we all kind of shrugged our shoulders. None of us really began Bioblitz knowing what a lichen was.

Our specialist began by informing us about lichens.  We learned that some believe lichens are not organisms.  Instead, some scientists consider lichens their own ecosystems.  Lichens are made up of the symbiotic relationship between algae and fungi.  There are split up into three basic categories: fructicose (which looks more elevated and shrubby), foliose (which looks more leafy and flowery) and crustose (which more flat against the tree or rock it’s growing on).

So we began our Bioblitz journey by getting up close and personal with lichen, using a set of magnifying glasses.

This is a picture of the first lichen we discovered.  The strangest thing was that none of us really knew what a lichen was, but we pass by them every day.  They live on trees and moss and we just mistake them for things like moss or some other type of greenery.  But in reality, there are whole ecosystems, or what some scientists consider whole ecosystems, on something as miniscule as a small section of a red oak tree.

We identified it by looking through guidebooks.  When the group found a picture in the guidebook that looked like the lichen in question, we would use chemical tests to see if our predictions were correct.  We first put potassium followed by chloride and waited for the colors to change.

I think the most exciting part of the whole BioBlitz experience was to be able to look at the lichen under a microscope.  In some of them, you could actually see the algae wrapped around the fungi.  You could actually see the ecosystem that these scientists were talking about in this tiny space.

This trip truly opened my eyes to the nature that actually exists within the city.  When you think of the city in general, you think of buildings, not a lot of green space.  Yet, we were able to experience acres and acres of green space in an urban atmosphere.  If there are tiny ecosystems on one tree, imagine how many ecosystems the whole NYBG could contain!

I have an increasing respect for the scientists that study these organisms.They get up close and personal with all different types of organisms in order to identify them.  Their interest in their work is so inspiring.  Humans tend to only see the whole world as something that solely serves us, but there are so many other animals and so much more plant life that contributes to this world that these scientists bring to light.  They open up new worlds to us.