Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi!
I am working on a science project about lichens. I was wondering where I could find large amounts of lichens on a rocky beach. Specifically, I am looking for one near Orange County, California.
Thank you.

Hi!

What kind of project are you doing with the lichen? Do you need to use a specific type of lichen? Narrowing down which types of lichen you need would be helpful for figuring out where to look for them!

Hi, thanks for the response! My project looks to see the effects of salt water on lichens. I will do this by comparing the coverage of lichens on the sea-facing versus the land-facing side of a rocky shore in the supralittoral zone.

I'm not looking for any particular type of lichen, but I will focus on coastal lichens. I think one could be Polycauliona tenax (Xanthoria tenax), as it can be found in southern California and is common near the coast. Others could include species of the Caloplaca, Xanthoria, and Ramalina genera. I'm not sure if I could find these on a Californian beach though.

Hello,

This sounds like a really cool project! I'm not from California so I can't give you any recommendations based on personal experience, but I did find a few articles mentioning coastal lichens at Aliso Beach. It looks like that's pretty close to Orange County. This is Fog Lichen, a type of coastal lichen that supposedly grows at Aliso Beach:
http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Fungi/Nieb ... hoides.htm

Maybe this could be a good place to start looking?