The Lichen Light Show of Mt. Rogers
Tracing the line of interdependence from lichens, to trees that host them, to the squirrels that planted them, and beyond, the entire ecosystem sprawls out through the window of just one tiny, slimy superorganism that clings to the harshest and most unforgiving environments.
A Cold, Dreary Paradise
On a cold, February morning, there’s often a layer of snow or rime ice coating everything above ground at the foot of Whitetop Mountain. Unlike the liveliness of a vivid, birdsong-inundated forest of spring, summer, or fall, a cloudy February morning is dreary, cold, and almost every living creature is hidden. But as soon as snow turns to rain, a beautiful phenomenon strikes the sleeping forest.
Lipstick Powderhorn (Cladonia macilenta), a colorful lichen often found at the base of trees or growing on bare soil. Photo by Cade Campbell
Tree trunks begin to “glow.” They don’t produce actual light, but every color of the rainbow emerges suddenly in the stark mid-winter. Instead, millions of feeding organisms start to respirate. Lichens.
The best survivors take a keen eye to notice. Lichens have an almost undefeated mastery of surviving harsh conditions for visible life. This unique branch of fungi occurs in every habitat worldwide. Certain lichens thrive in Antarctic deserts on exposed rocks, and some relish hot, humid tropical rainforests. Some endure hurricanes and saltwater storm surges, while others flourish growing on toxic waste and plastic protruding from landfills. A few lichens have even survived growing outside the International Space Situation, far from the blue planet where they originated. Even where mature lichens are unable to grow, their spores often try. Lichens cover the ground, the trees, our homes, and even float through the air we breathe. They are everywhere, and the greater Mt. Rogers ecosystem provides the perfect conditions for lichens.
The Mt. Rogers area is cloaked in a temperate rainforest, and at lower elevations, Appalachian rich cove forest habitats are perpetually protected and filled with atmospheric moisture. Lichen diversity abounds, and winter allows them to thrive. In freezing temperatures, lichens undergo dormancy. They become completely inactive, merging with the dead, gray appearance of winter woods. They survive ice, snow, and blistering winds. Trees are felled, and rocks erode, but lichens dance across the chaos of a changing landscape from spore to adulthood, over and over again.
Tree Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria), a giant lichen from Whitetop Mountain known for the dinner-plate-sized rosettes it forms. Lungwort requires clean, humid air to survive, and will often struggle or die if transported to areas with heavy air pollution. Photo by Cade Campbell
But lichens can’t stay dormant forever. In the summer, a dense canopy of deciduous leaves and competition from mosses, predation by invertebrates, and the constant threat of decomposing requires a healthy organism. If lichens were only a fungus, survival in the summer would be easy. Most species have photosynthetic symbionts; some kind of algae, cyanobacteria, or a relative that is encased inside, capturing supplemental energy. Simply put, long before lichens, “a fungus and an algae took a ‘lichen’ to each other” and the rest was history. Photosynthesis needs sunlight, and a summer canopy can keep most of it blocked high above the tree trunks, rocks, and soil below. The best chance for these happy couples to gather a maximum quantity of sunlight, with the moisture to process it, is on an overcast, wet, and cool winter day.
In a collective show, thousands of shades of greenish-blue from a dull, dusty blue-gray to bright turquoise, accompanied by dark viridian greens, golden-yellows, and even scarlet reds, adorn tree trunks and branches. Once you train your eye to this change, it’s easy to notice on any overcast day if lichens are metabolizing.
Most importantly, lichens have no vascular tissue like most familiar plants; no tricky veins, leaves, or stems to make things complicated. Wildflowers, ferns, and trees are not photosynthesizing in winter, and even if they were, the process happens at a much larger and complex scale. Lichens only have single-celled cyanobacteria or algae on many occasions, which can produce oxygen a lot more efficiently. Together, unrelated mosses and lichens have been found to produce more oxygen, and sequester more carbon dioxide, than the trees they grow on!
Poplar Sunburst Lichen (Xanthomendoza hasseana), a very small and inconspicuous lichen, but enormous compared to many almost-microscopic relatives. Photo by Cade Campbell
As the days to centuries wear on, old trees accumulate sheets of colorful lichen. Around 600 species of lichens occur in the state of Virginia, and many rely on tree bark to provide a perch and accumulated food. Although they thrive on dead or dying trees, lichens are not parasitic, and may grow equally well on a perfectly healthy forest tree. Lichens do not exist independently from trees, even though they are independent survivors (independent, as they work together). Tracing the line of interdependence from lichens, to trees that host them, to the squirrels that planted them, and beyond, the entire ecosystem sprawls out through the window of just one tiny, slimy superorganism that clings to the harshest and most unforgiving environments.
These are just a few of the reasons lichens (and their cohabitants, mosses) are special to Mt. Rogers, the surrounding highlands, and the world beyond.
Whitetop Mountain Fieldtrip
After a week of teaching Galax Middle School kids the fundamentals of compass and map use, and working with another group on basic bird identification, these two outdoor classes hopped on a school bus to rendezvous at Whitetop Mountain for a five mile hike.
After a week of teaching Galax Middle School kids the fundamentals of compass and map use, and working with another group on basic bird identification, these two outdoor classes hopped on a school bus to rendezvous at Whitetop Mountain for a five mile hike.
Though windy and cool, the kids enjoyed the trail through the woods, exploring under rocks for salamanders and eating lunch before breaking out into the vast field and back into the wind. None of our students had ever been to this part of 'their backyard', and seemed to relish its uniqueness and other worldliness...many stating that they wanted to come back. They practiced leaning into the wind without falling down.
Buzzard Rock served as our destination, and with proper safety measures in place, they managed to crawl on the lower boulders before completing their hike loop.
Those with compasses were asked to find and share orientation positions as we changed directions. Those with binoculars saw a few birds, but with the wind, most birds were hunkered down. All managed to watch a few ravens swoop, tumble and dive, get a glance at juncos, and one Northern harrier hovering over the bald at hike's end.
The kids agreed, Whitetop Mountain is a treasure.
Blue Ridge Explorers Overnight Camp
Fourteen intrepid explorers joined BRDC for four days and three nights of adventure packed fun during the Blue Ridge Explorers Camp. We kayaked, hike Whitetop Mountain, and swam in the New River, but most importantly we learned what it means to be a Naturalist.
Fourteen intrepid explorers joined BRDC for four days and three nights of adventure packed fun during the Blue Ridge Explorers Camp.
Camp began with a Naturalist Journaling lesson to set the tone but then shifted to serious leisure with "Hammocking 101" by Joe Flowers.
Attention quickly turned to the river where we set minnow traps and did some snorkeling with Lisa Benish.
The day finished with a little Appalachian heritage lesson and a friendly competition of classic Highland's games. With a little time left after dinner we hiked to the ridge to play games, watch the sunset and catch fireflies.
That night, the skies cleared and the stars sparkled. We got out the 60x birding scope and studied the moons of jupiter. We could see Jupiter's red lines but we were all stunned at how well we could see the ring around Saturn.
Is it an Osprey or a Bald Eagle?
The second day kicked off with a birding hike where we studied the riparian corridor of the New River. Ultimately the camp observed or heard over thirty species of birds. The most surprising find though was a gnarly male hellgrammite resting in the grass.
Male Adult Dobsonfly (Hellgrammite)
Upon return to camp, Joe Flowers led a basic compass navigation course and tree climbing lesson.
That afternoon we loaded into kayaks and headed for the river! The kids led a 3 hr paddle down the New, seeing a Bald Eagle nest, lighting a spark fire on an island to dry off, and discovering a Mallard nest in the weeds. They also ditched their boats and navigated the rapids on their backs to get some wet time.
After dinner it was time for some local old time tunes around the campfire! The Yates family band tuned up their instruments along the river and picked the evening away with the kids joining in the chorus! Dessert featured the camp favorite: campfire grilled banana boats!
As night approached, so did massive thunderstorms from West Virginia. The camp battened down the hatches and weathered the worst of it in the vehicles. Half the kids were enthralled by the display of lighting and thunder, the other half were terrified. They all survived the night and we let them sleep in a bit the second morning.
We began Friday with an exploration of the mixed hardwood forest where we found lots of salamanders. Drew's sharp eyes even spotted a tiny spring peeper on a leaf!
The hot and sunny day called for a swim in the river, but this time we put on life jackets and headed for Field's Dam where they kids leaned into the water gushing over the dam, floated down the rapids and leaped off the rocks. Instead of walking back to camp we floated like a big human raft downriver. At the exit Caroline found a dragonfly that had just hatched out of it's case!
Not having had enough, we packed the cars with a picnic dinner and hit the road to the second highest peak in Virginia: Whitetop Mountain. Hiking down to Buzzard's Rock we studied 1 billion year old Cranberry Gneiss, marveled at the grassland balds, searched for salamanders along the woodland slope, filled up our canteens in a spring, slipped into the fern laden spruce forest and watched the sunset from the most beautiful vista in the east!
Even after a day like that, the kids were not done. When we got back to camp they rolled their sleeping bags out on the grass to watch the stars, then begged to get the scope back out. After studying the usual suspects we turned our sights towards satellites. Reece was able to locate the international space station and two of us got to view it very clearly through the scope!
After a peaceful night's sleep the camp woke to a foggy morning and a Bald Eagle sitting on a snag across the river. After some coal baked apples for breakfast we headed out and Amelia and Caroline led us to some rocky slopes and wetland bottoms for exploration.
The camp finished up with one last swim in the river and a little bit of fly fishing. At lunch, Joe demonstrated the most traditional form of fire building: friction fire with a bow string. To put a nice cap on a great camp a bald eagle did one final soar over camp to say goodbye and the kids charged up the hill to their parents as full of energy as ever!
Explorers Club Full Moon Hike
Any full moon hike is special but add the second highest peak in VA, a 250+ acre grassy bald and a gnarled beech forest and it becomes truly spectacular!
Any full moon hike is special but add the second highest peak in VA, a 250+ acre grassy bald and a gnarled beech forest and it becomes truly spectacular!
The Blue Ridge Explorers Club March Full Moon Hike, exploring Whitetop by moonlight, was so much fun that the group decided it would be the first of many full moon hikes this year.
The Blue Ridge Explorers Club is an informal group that meets monthly, on the first Tuesday at Creek Bottom Brews in Galax at 6:00pm. The Explorers host an exploration once a month, with the opportunity for many ad hoc explorations as decided by the members.
