Bio-Blitz Big Day

Day 221: Under an ominous weather forecast, today's Bio-Blitz teams were wondering if the event was going to turn into a swim meet before they returned with their species surveys. It had been raining rather vigorously when I left home, but during the preliminary briefings, precipitation dwindled to a light drizzle. We dispersed to our various assignments, and my crew headed up Rampart Ridge. Our goal was to make the entire loop, but it quickly became apparent that we had too much to document in the time allotted to us, so after taking close to two hours to complete the first mile, we began considering alternatives. By the time we reached the overlook, we had recorded over 70 images of lichens, bryophytes, fungi and mycoheterotrophic plants and it was time to turn around. We took a brief lunch in a light shower, the only real rain we'd experienced up to that point.

Among the species we documented were Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), both Pilophorus acicularis and clavatus (Matchstick lichens), and one solitary specimen of Usnea. We found two examples of a colour variation of Corallorhiza maculata (canary yellow!) and a number of emergent Allotropa virgata (Candystick) and Hypopitys monotropa (Pinesap). All in all, it was a very rewarding day, and it only started raining in earnest as we made our final approach to the Longmire parking area. Bio-Blitz was a blast!

The Hunt For Fairy Barf

Day 220: Up until a month and a half ago, I had only seen Icmadophila ericetorum referred to as "fairy barf" in one lichen reference. Since then, I've encountered the name at least half a dozen times in unrelated field guides and on authoritative websites. Common names for lichens are not standardized, but it would appear that this one is achieving popularity rather quickly. Since pre-teen children seem to delight in innocent grossness, I decided to base today's kid-level Bio-Blitz lichen program on a hunt for fairy barf.

Six groups of seven or eight fourth and fifth grade students passed through my station on the Trail of the Shadows, usually starting at my favourite rock (the one which holds both species of Pilophorus), proceeding counter-clockwise to end at the junction with the Rampart Ridge trail. There was plenty of fairy barf along the way, and most of the kids took the opportunity to make a botanical drawing of the species. However, much to my surprise, almost every one of them sought out examples of the other species in their guides as well as those for which I provided botanical specimens. Even more surprising was the fact that in almost every group, at least one youngster asked me if Alectoria was "Old-Man's Beard," a very similar species. When I explained how to tell the difference, one young man searched and searched until at last he found a specimen of Usnea, and brought it to me to demonstrate the "elastic band" in the core. It was enormously rewarding to see young people taking a genuine interest in any science, but their enthusiasm for lichenology astonished me. I can only hope my adult audience tomorrow is as receptive! In the final tally, I have to say that Day One of Bio-Blitz was a rousing success.

Bio-Blitz Lichens

Day 219: Are you ready for the Blitz? Mount Rainier National Park is holding a two-day "bio-blitz" during which student groups will participate in educational programs covering a variety of natural-history subjects, and adult volunteers will hike with scientists, taking photographs and documenting as many species as possible within their chosen topic. Your Humble Narrator has the privilege of being one of the scientist leads for the project, and if you need a hint to guess the subject on which I will be expounding, you are guilty of not paying attention in class.

Over the last several days, I've gathered samples ("for educational purposes") demonstrating a dozen or so different lichen genera, and if I'd worried about them being too dry last week, rainy weather has brought them back to full glory. So much for keeping them in a cooler, separated by damp paper towels! The adults on my Saturday hike will be looking for lichens of all sorts, but at the same time, keeping their eyes peeled for the elusive, pioneering Pilophorus in the hopes of furthering our knowledge of its timeline and its altitudinal range. The fourth and fifth graders who will be with me for tomorrow's session will be hunting down "fairy barf" (Icmadophila ericetorum), experiencing the observational benefits of making botanical drawings, and maybe winning small prizes for catching Crow when she says "litch-en" instead of "like-en." It promises to be damp day, but a rewarding one nevertheless, and hopefully, these events will lead to more like them in the future. I'm excited!

Best Rock Ever!

Day 183: My lunchtime walk today yielded up the Best Rock Ever! It holds BOTH species of Pilophorus side-by-side (clavatus on the left, acicularis on the right), and to further add to its merits, it's on the trail on which I'll be conducting a lichen walk during Bio-Blitz.

My Bio-Blitz walk will cover about a dozen lichen genera, and then our volunteers will be sent out on their own, cameras in hand, to photograph as many lichen species as they can find, with an eye to publishing them on iNaturalist. However, as a secondary goal, they will be specifically documenting Pilophorus in the hopes of getting a better picture of the time-frame in which this pioneer lichen colonizes "freshly exposed" rock surfaces. In my personal experience with P. acicularis, "freshly exposed" may range from 20-60 years.

In my original plan, I would have been taking people to two sites approximately a mile apart in order to view both species. The discovery of the Best Rock Ever just made my job enormously easier!