Question

What is a lichen? What is the role of crustose lichens in soil formation? What attributes do foliose lichens have that allows them to be major primary producers in desert ecosystems?

Answer 1

• Lichen is defined as the symbiotic relationship or association between two different organisms i.e fungi and algae. On the basis of thallus, lichens are divided into four categories i.e (a) Foliose Lichens (b) Fructicose lichens (c) Crustose lichens (d) squamulose lichens. Lichens are used as bio-indicators.
• Crustose lichens are generally crustlike i.e they form crust over roofs, tree barks soil etc. They form red patches and holds the substrate very tightly. They enhance the quality of soil by trapping water, any sediment or dust or any fine particles. When these lichens die, they bring out the organic matter which would help the plants in order to grow in the soil.
• Foliose Lichens is one of the group among different categories of lichen. They are involved retaining or keeping he fog moisture for longer time period and at low relative moisture contents, they carry out photosynthesis II. They are able to survive in dessert by use of insufficient resources of water. They are also able to survive in high humidity etc. Indeed they're active without the ability of storing water. All of these attributes are dependent upon the ratio of temperature- moisture on the surface of dessert soil. Hence, they are primary producers in dessert ecosystems.

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