BLS Bulletin 102 Summer 2008.Pdf
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BRITISH LICHEN SOCIETY OFFICERS AND CONTACTS 2008 PRESIDENT P.W. Lambley MBE, The Cottage, Elsing Road, Lyng, Norwich NR9 5RR, email [email protected] VICE-PRESIDENT S.D. Ward, 14 Green Road, Ballyvaghan, Co. Clare, Ireland, email [email protected] SECRETARY Post Vacant. Correspondence to Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD. TREASURER J.F. Skinner, 28 Parkanaur Avenue, Southend-on-sea, Essex SS1 3HY, email [email protected] ASSISTANT TREASURER AND MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY D. Chapman, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, email [email protected] REGIONAL TREASURER (Americas) Dr J.W. Hinds, 254 Forest Avenue, Orono, Maine 04473- 3202, USA. CHAIR OF THE DATA COMMITTEE Dr D.J. Hill, email [email protected] MAPPING RECORDER AND ARCHIVIST Prof. M.R.D.Seaward DSc, FLS, FIBiol, Department of Environmental Science, The University, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7 1DP, email [email protected] DATABASE MANAGER Ms J. Simkin, 41 North Road, Ponteland, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland NE20 9UN, email [email protected] SENIOR EDITOR (LICHENOLOGIST) Dr P.D.Crittenden, School of Life Science, The University, Nottingham NG7 2RD, email [email protected] BULLETIN EDITOR Dr P.F. Cannon, CABI Europe UK Centre, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey TW20 9TY, email [email protected] CHAIR OF CONSERVATION COMMITTEE & CONSERVATION OFFICER B.W. Edwards, DERC, Library Headquarters, Colliton Park, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1XJ, email [email protected] CHAIR OF THE EDUCATION AND PROMOTION COMMITTEE Dr B. Hilton, email [email protected] CURATOR R.K. Brinklow BSc, Dundee Museums and Art Galleries, Albert Square, Dundee DD1 1DA, email [email protected] LIBRARIAN Post vacant. For loans and visits (near Leicester) please contact Dr A. Fletcher, tel. 01509 815514, e-mail [email protected] WEBMASTER Dr J.I.J. Middleton, 2 Manton Close, Bracklesham Bay, Chichester, Sussex PO20 8RN, email [email protected] CHAIR OF THE MEMBERS’ SERVICES COMMITTEE & FIELD MEETINGS SECRETARY S.R. Davey, 10 Cottage Home, Common Lane, Ditchling, Hassocks, Sussex BN6 8TW, email [email protected] MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL Dr H. Döring, J. Douglass, Dr C. Ellis, P.W. James, D. Palmer, I. Pedley, S. Price, M. Sutcliffe, R. Woods. REFEREES (Regional & Specialist) See web-site: www.thebls.org.uk 2 British Lichen Society Bulletin no. 102 Summer 2008 Welcome to the new-style BLS Bulletin, adorned with full-colour images (which I’m sure you’ve already noticed) and with a new Editor attached. I’ve worked with lichen names for much of my professional life, but have only recently started to focus on the organism(s) themselves. I’m continually amazed by their extraordinary diversity of form, and by the often incredibly subtle differences between species as they appear under a hand lens. We are currently in a period of great change as DNA sequences show time and again that 250 years of morphological taxonomists haven’t got things quite right (or anything like right in some cases!) Nevertheless, the days of portable automated identification machines aren’t yet quite among us, so the hand lens and the chemical kit will be useful for some time to come. The BLS plays a crucial role bringing together professional and amateur lichenologists all over the world, and I consider it a pleasure and a privilege to help make things happen. This issue contains the Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Meeting of the BLS, with fascinating articles looking back over the history of the Society as well as cutting- edge presentations on subjects of current interest. We also have a responsibility to look to the future. Council has recently agreed to set up a “forward-thinking” initiative to ensure that the BLS reaches its 100th anniversary and beyond in a robustly healthy condition, so good ideas will be more than welcome, either as articles for publication or private notes to the President. Ultimately, this is your Bulletin and you will direct what goes into it. Please say what you like (enthusastically!) and what you don’t (sympathetically!) and consider contributing anything from a letter to a full article. Colour pictures should be an ongoing feature, so these are welcome also. I’ll be delighted to hear from you, via email or at the contact address on the opposite page. Paul Cannon, BLS Bulletin editor: email [email protected] __________________________________________________________________ Front cover: the BLS 50th Anniversary Cake This magnificent cake, in the form of large and small rounded boulders, was set on a side table in the Great Hall at Nettlecombe during the AGM festivities. So realistic was it, that many people thought it was part of the Lichen Exhibition…. The decoration was exquisite, and most life-like representation of lichens enabled a “species list” to be made: . Cladonia chlorophaea (with perfect granular soredia in the cup) . Cladonia floerkeana . Xanthoparmelia mougeotii . Solorina saccata . Xanthoria parietina There were also some unidentified crusts on the rock surface, but TLC was required to attempt these, and unfortunately all material was consumed! The cake was beautifully made (with a really scrummy chocolate cake as the “rock” matrix), by Emma Coull, a Master Cake Maker and Decorator in SE Scotland (contact: Emma Coull, 42 Acheson Drive, Preston Pans, EH32 9NE, tel: 01875 819849). Emma was given as a guide and inspiration The Observer’s Book of Lichens (K.L. Alvin, 1997, Frederick Warne, London), the edition with illustrations mostly by Claire Dalby. Thanks to Sandy Coppins for this information, and the photograph was contributed by Dave Genney. www.uklichens.co.uk This piece was contributed at the request of the Bulletin Editor. It provides a vivid picture of the origins and evolution of this remarkable internet resource, but perhaps glosses over the sheer amount of work needed! Some of the images from www.uklichens.co.uk are reproduced in the colour centrespread of this Bulletin, to give a taste of what is there to those who are not familiar with the website. The UKLichen website will be two years old in June. The idea came originally out of my own needs for a memory aid. At the time I was not spending enough time on lichens and it was difficult to remember the names of ones I had found and identified from year to year. Does that strike a chord? There were so many other responsibilities, interests and commitments. So I started to create a photo library so that I could quickly whiz through the pictures to refresh my memory and maybe they would stick in my head more easily. It was an easy step to then consider setting up a website to make these pictures available to everyone else. I was fortunate, the previous year, to get a decent tax refund which I had banked, but decided to blow it all on a digital SLR (Nikon D70s), now that they had finally become more affordable. I added a 60mm macro lens and headed for the Kindrogan Field Centre to try to kick-start my flagging lichen knowledge and for a week of busy, but gentle, life-enhancing inspiration delivered by the Coppinses. One of the great things about field courses and field meetings generally is the melting pot and exchange of ideas that goes on and it was wonderful to be at Kindrogan with such a great bunch of people. Dave Genney, SNH lower plants officer, was also there and he also had internet ideas which we chatted about. Dave wanted to form a discussion group which emerged a short time later as the wonderful resource that is the Yahoo Group: Scottish Lichenology. When I got home from Kindrogan I found out that most of my pictures were rubbish. Either my shutter speed was too slow or I used the in-built flash which is no good for close-ups. I experimented for a while with a flash diffuser and even a homemade flash attachment made out of a plastic milk bottle. Finally, I bit the bullet again and splashed out on a brilliant macro flash unit that does it all automatically so I have no excuses any more. Refreshed by Kindrogan, and the positive atmosphere there, I felt confident that a photo-website was a good idea and I set about finding the best web host, learning to write web-lingo, and taking better photos. I also contacted Jacqui Middleton to check that my ideas wouldn’t conflict with plans for the new BLS website. As I write this I can recall how exciting it felt as I started to build my site into reality: learning new skills and the thrill of being part of the web community. There was a lot of jubilant ‘air punching’ going on in our flat when UKLichens went live. To be honest, though, sometimes I felt twinges of being a bit of an impostor because, although I first joined the BLS in 1982, I hadn’t done much and knew almost nobody. So who was I to launch into this prominent website thing? Well, I needn’t have worried because the BLS is a very welcoming bunch of nice people. There is a great depth and breadth of knowledge and skills here but we don’t all have the time 2 to do everything and even though I am not a brilliant lichen expert I can contribute in other ways, one of which is UKLichens. The support that I have received has been tremendous. It is great when someone sends an email saying how useful your site is or sends you a good picture to put on it.