Document Type

Research

Keywords

: soil lichens, loess prairies, Bacidia sp., Caloplaca sp., Candelariella sp., Cladonia spp., Collema sp., Dermatocarpon sp., Diploschistes sp., Endocarpon sp., Heppia sp., Lecidea sp., Thrombium sp.

Abstract

Soil lichens occupy a unique niche in drier grasslands. They are usually inconspicuous, but they flourish in the Loess Hills prairies where the vegetation cover is sparse and the exposed soil between the dominant bunch grasses is available for colonization. Of 34 lichen species reported to occur on soils in Iowa, 11 species are well developed in the prairies of the steep, dry, loess slopes. The same species are abundant on upper slopes and gravelly ridges in remnant prairies throughout western and northwestern Iowa. The thalli of these lichens are well adapted for xeric conditions. They are typically small and compact, squamulose to subfoliose, and of gelatinous to leathery consistency. Most are densely rhizinate, enabling them to persist on a substrate highly prone to erosion.

Publication Date

December 1985

Journal Title

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

Issue

First Page

189

Last Page

192

Copyright

Language

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Oard, Margi and Tiffany, Lois H. (1985) "Soil Lichens of the Loess Hills Prairies in Iowa," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 92(5), 189-192.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol92/iss5/9

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Soil Lichens of the Loess Hills Prairies in Iowa

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