Tom is blogging on behalf of Dan Carpenter

I thought I would fill you in on some of the other work that is taking place here in Sabah during the trip. Soil biodiversity is not the only thing being studied. We have been accompanied throughout by Holger Thüs and Pat Wolseley, two lichenologists from the Museum.

Pat and Holger worked with us on our New Forest project surveying the lichens of both the terrestrial and freshwater habitats.  The collaboration was so successful that we were very pleased that they could join us on the Borneo trip.

A lichen quadrat on a tree

They are using the same sampling technique here in Sabah as that which they used in the New Forest. In each plot (the same plot we sample invertebrates in) they select 12 trees and put a quadrat on the trunk. They then record the lichen species and their frequency on the tree.  They do this for four sides of each of the twelve trees.  Additionally they also collect five leaves from plants around each tree that have lichens on them.

Lichenologists at lunch

They have used the same method in Danum, SAFE and Maliau, so they will be able to directly compare the lichens that they have found in each site.  This will tell them (amongst other things) what effect deforestation has on lichen diversity and how many species are in common between two primary forest reserves (Danum and Maliau) and how many are unique to one or the other. Combined with our invertebrate data this will gives us a lot of information about the three sites we have visited.

A large leaf-like lichen

Many of you may be familiar with lichens from walls or trees that you have seen around your homes or places of work.  But closer inspection is a must to appreciate the delicate beauty of these organisms. They take myriad forms, such as a writing-like pattern, branching patterns, leaf-like lichens and even ones that look like small volcanoes. A good magnifying glass or hand lens will help you to see them more closely.

Lichen frog

One of the joys of working with, and occasionally helping, Pat and Holger is discovering some of the animals that mimic lichens for camouflage.  I have included photos of a frog and an insect which I think is a member of Orthoptera (grasshoppers and others), but I have never seen anything like so I am not sure! We have also found a small spider hiding on one of the leaves Holger collected.  You can see how well they are adapted to life on lichen covered trees.

Insect (Orthoptera?) using lichen camouflage

You will hear more about lichens via Charlotte’s Nature Live blog, so check that soon.

Dan Carpenter