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Rhizocarpon

  • Family name: Rhizocarpaceae
  • Common name: map lichen
  • Growth form: Lichen
  • Names used on the Toolik-Arctic Geobotanical Atlas maps:
    • Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map: Rhizocarpon
    • Imnavait Creek Permanent Plots: Rhizocarpon spp.

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  1. Rhizocarpon    , map lichen
  2. Yellow map or world map lichen is frequently used in lichenometry, a geobotanical technique employed to estimate the age of exposure of a rock surface. Since Rhizocarpon geographicum quickly colonizes newly-exposed rock surfaces and has a known rate of growth, geologists can, for example, examine glacially-deposited rocks and determine the rate of glacial retreat. For an excellent introduction to lichenometry, read Lichens, Lichenometry and Global Warming, a short and well-illustrated paper by Richard Aston in the September 2004 issue of Microbiologist. 10/9/05
    10/3/05 Hope Slide, British Columbia, Canada
    Image author: Danial Mosquin ©
    Website: Botany Photo of the Day
    See also: Lichens, Lichenometry and Global Warming (PDF)
    Source of original image

  1. Rhizocarpon    , map lichen
  2. Rock slab with lichen crust
    Lower Tatras Mts., Slovakia; September, 2005
    Image author: Michaela Sedlarova ©
    Website: Department of Botany, Palack_ University, Czech Republic, Lichens
    See also: Lichen Atlas (in Czech)
    Source of original image

  1. Rhizocarpon    , map lichen
  2. on rock at high elevation in the Rocky Mountains, example species, Rhizocarpon geographicum
    Rocky Mountains
    Image author: Stephen & Sylvia Sharnoff ©
    Website: Lichens of North America
    Source of original image

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