I wander if I can request help with identification of this white/grey lichen. It was growing on rock, coastal area, well above sea level, Saunders Island, West Falkland, South Atlantic Ocean, December Thank you in advance Krystyna Szulecka
Lichens can be very difficult to accurately identify, especially from a single (relatively) low-resolution image. There are many species, and in your image it appears that there may be more than one, as the black spots on the areas in left periphery of the image could be fruiting bodies on another crutose species, while the central crust seems to have either immature fruiting bodies or it could even be a species that has no known sexual reproduction. Many northern species of lichens are pan-arctic, so perhaps an expert lichenologist may be able to help you here, but chances are that an image with a higher resolution, and even an image showing the local environment would be a big help in getting an identification.
Thank you for your kind answer. After two weeks of trying to make identification of lichens I photograph in Falklands (with help of others too) I just gave up. I reach the conclusion that I could only treat pictures taken as pictorial, rather than scientific record. Thank you for taking time to write. Krystyna Szulecka
Don't give up completely-- these crustose forms are the toughest to ID. You'll probably have better luck if you look for identification of "macrolichens" those with more obvious structures. Good luck!
Crustose lichens are very hard to id, I would suggest that Irwin Brodo may be the Canadain that can help. The book to start with is Lichens of Antarctica and South Georgia by D.O. Ovstedal and R.I. Lewis Smith. There is some chance of connection there. The other chance I would take is contacting Lewis Smith. When I saw the post I was expecting a photo taken on the rocks above the ROckhopper Penguins and the Black-browed Albatross nesting to the north of the neck at Saunders Islands. There is a very distinctive looking crustose lichen on some of these rocks.
