Trip Report: White Mountains or Bust! (California /Nevada, USA) Intro
The White Mountains of California / Nevada are the little known younger sister of the High Sierras.
Common Alpine Lichens of the High Sierras – California
What are the common alpine lichens found in the High Sierras of California? This handy six page guide just might answer that question. Jason and I made it for naturalists, alpine enthusiasts, and citizen scientists, with the hope that it will be helpful in field identification of common alpine lichen species or species groups. Rarity […]
What’s in an Ecotone? Lichens living on the edge…
An ecotone is a transition zone between two ecological systems. Ecotones can range in size: in some places ecotones are wide (e.g. forest – grassland ecotones), in other places they are quite narrow (e.g. riparian – arid shrub steppe). In the ecotone, habitats from each ecosystem form a mixed patchy mosaic, often with species assemblages […]
Northern Mojave Lichens: Part I — Interesting notes and Yucca People
Last April, Jason and I surveyed lichens in the northern Mojave. It’s the second field season of a three year study involving lichen biodiversity along the ecotone of the Great Basin and Mojave Deserts in Southern Nevada. And what did we find? Lichens, yucca people, bizarre geology, and a new rock climbing area that’s being […]
Alpine Lichens – Mt Whitney: Part 2
Part 1 covered the hike, but we didn’t touch at all upon the lichens on Mt. Whitney! So let’s do that here. Firstly, you might be wondering – what’s the history of lichen collections of Mt. Whitney? Two words: its limited. Here’s the stats: Date […]
Alpine Lichens – Mt Whitney: Part 1
Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the conterminous U.S., looms over the Owens Valley, once a thriving agricultural area, now increasingly arid as its the major supplier of the Los Angeles water supply. It’s a striking landscape characteristic of the High Sierras, and the lichens on the summit were different than those we’ve found on […]
