The natural world is a living art gallery. To appreciate the often intricate colorations that evolved in many cases over millions of years requires slowing down, way down, and stopping. It may even require the aid of a magnifying glass or a camera lens. Sometimes it just means being especially aware at certain times of the year when flowers bloom.
Some of the most fascinating, common, but little appreciated life forms are lichens, shown here in five images. With the naked eye, the details in the “Lichen Galaxy” image, for example, go unnoticed. Yet, there on the blue rock “sky” of the shoreline boulder are yellow, orange, cream, and mushroom-colored lichens.
Lichens are commonly seen on rocks and trees, and appear to be a single plant. In fact, they are a combination of two organisms working together. A fungus provides the structure, protection, and water absorption, while algae or bacteria species produce food for the lichen through photosynthesis.
In two of the images, what looks like cracked yellow paint is actually a lichen, possibly one called Yellow Map.
Science fact: The vibrant orange and yellow hues in some of the lichens are the result of pigment adaptation conferring ultraviolet light protection going back to the Late Cretaceous period 66 to 145 million years ago, according to Wikipedia . The pigments enabled this group to expand from shaded forest habitats to harsher environmental conditions of sunny and arid ecosystems.
The “Mussel Necklace” image shows mussels filling every nook and cranny between barnacle-covered rocks at very low tide near the Bay Trail and beach. Mussels and barnacles, when visible and above the waterline, appear to be lifeless, but when submerged they feed on micronutrients in the water that build their hard shells and sustain life…