Nathan Chrismas
banner
thevagrantlichenologist.com
Nathan Chrismas
@thevagrantlichenologist.com
Lichenologist - FRGS - Mountain Leader - Outdoor Activities Engagement for the British Lichen Society

Blog: www.thevagrantlichenologist.com
Insta: www.instagram.com/cragology/
Web: www.cragology.rocks
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
Remote sensing of lichens with drones for detecting dinosaur bones: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Remote sensing of lichens with drones for detecting dinosaur bones
Brian Pickles and colleagues show that exposed dinosaur bones can be remote sensed with drones by virtue of colored lichens growing on them.
www.cell.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:35 PM
I wasn't sure what I was going to get with this lumpy lecidioid thing (mica schist at ~800m VC96). I was half expecting a mutant Rhizo, but microscopy said otherwise....
#lichenGBI
November 4, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
Based on morphology and molecular data, sixteen new species are described as part of a study on the taxonomy of Protoblastenia in Finland.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/myco...
October 30, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
#Fire avoidance & long-term population decline in the endangered Florida ground #lichen #Cladonia perforata within a pyrogenic habitat

New #AJB research by @sterlingherron.bsky.social, Katherine Charton, Sarah Haller Crate, Stacy Smith, et al.

doi.org/10.1002/ajb2... #botany #plantscience
October 29, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
UTTERLY SURREAL LOW ANGLE GLACIER SLIDE!! 😮😱

On Saturday at 11:00 am, a 2 km-long, 25 m-high, and 150-200 m in width section detached off the Ismoil Somoni Glacier (Tajikistan) and slid down the gorge! 🧊🌊

asiaplustj.info/en/node/354309
📽️ via @volcaholic1
October 28, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
There are 110 other posts in the vicinity and I took a closer look at about 40 of them. The original one I noticed still happened to be the best in my opinion, in terms of "terrain" and diversity.
October 24, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
In this paper, we show that photobiont diversity increases as lichens age. Interestingly, as the thallus grows, autosporine algae become more prevalent at the expense of zoosporine algae, likely because the latter play a key role in lichen establishment. 1url.cz/@Proto
October 21, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Stereocaulon condensatum. This is a thing frequently associated with mine spoil so really nice to see it in a more natural setting - exposed soil flushed by mineral rich rock at ~800m VC96 #lichenGBI
October 21, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Some very fine looking Trapeliopsis pseudogranulosa VC106 #LichenGBI
October 18, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
PhD opportunity with me at University of Edinburgh linked with Forest Research, funded by E5 DTP.

On the microbial mechanisms of soil carbon cycling in tree-planted upland soils. Apply before 14th Dec. Please share with your network.

Pic: one of our Scottish sites.

e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
October 17, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
Part of: Exploring the Hidden Fungal Diversity: Biodiversity, Taxonomy, and Phylogeny of Saprobic Fungi

doi.org/10.3897/myco...
Exploring the Hidden Fungal Diversity: Biodiversity, Taxonomy, and Phylogeny of Saprobic Fungi
Saprobic fungi, also known as saprophytic fungi, are considered the “key players” in decomposition and essential ecosystem components. They have a cosmopolitan distribution and can oc...
doi.org
October 17, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Nice new study from Veronika Kantnerova and @skaloud.bsky.social - lichen photobionts are not fixed from the 'birth' of a thallus and increase in diversity as a lichen ages academic.oup.com/femsec/artic...
Validate User
academic.oup.com
October 17, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
BLS will welcome applications from members for travel grants to attend IAL10 next summer. The full details of the application process and closing date for applications are on the website.
britishlichensociety.org.uk/the-society/....
September 4, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
Come to Copenhagen to work on #moss #cyanobacteria interactions! Still time to apply for this postdoc position!! 👇
September 24, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Orphniospora moriopsis on gneissose granite, Strath Vaich. I think this thing is pretty underrecorded on account of it being a fairly mysterious black crust, but when it's mature it develops a distinct orange pruina which can help to tell it apart from other things
October 14, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Instagram is driving me insane and I'm missing the old days of Twitter so I'm going to try and start being a bit more active on here.
October 14, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Some super lichens here in the Dolomites. A favourite of the trip so far is Bellemerea alpina, a species that's incredibly scarce in the Cairngorms but in the heart of its range here.
July 3, 2025 at 7:22 AM
En route to the First Symposium of Alpine Lichenology. Very excited for this! I'll be discussing work from our Scottish hills and looking forward to putting it in the context of mountain environments on a wider scale.
June 29, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Interesting looking study on the effects of seabird droppings on plant communities. Not read properly yet, but a quick skim and lichens are only mentioned once, despite being the only 'plant' visible in the lead photo (yes I know they're not plants, but)
May 9, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Female Belted Beauty moth. This is the Scottish subspecies, Lycia zonaria atlantica, found on machair grassland in the Hebrides (here on Mingulay)
May 7, 2025 at 5:38 AM
In Birmingham for our workshop on lichen microbiomes thanks to the NERC Arctic Office. Here's @ingeborgklarenberg.bsky.social talking about her work on lichen associated communities in Antarctica
March 28, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Good to see the BBS has made it over here too
Some blue sky in this image of Wharfedale, Yorkshire, announces our move to this platform. The BBS will be having its annual Spring Field Meeting there, starting on Saturday, in this beautiful limestone countryside. It's been getting rather lonely on X/Twitter......
March 13, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
A map that centers on New Zealand, which I guess is reparation for all the maps that leave New Zealand off entirely.
February 28, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Nathan Chrismas
Aquatic photosynthesis knowledge would be at a considerably lower level without John Raven. What a life and legacy! 🌊

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
John Raven, FRS, FRSE: a truly great innovator in plant physiology, photosynthesis and much more - Photosynthesis Research
This is a tribute to a truly inspirational plant biologist, Prof. John A. Raven, FRS, FRSE (25th June 1941– 23rd May 2024), who died at the age of 82. He was a leader in the field of evolution and phy...
link.springer.com
February 19, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Lots of this lovely Usnea ciliata to be found on the Grand Traverse of the Remarkables above Queenstown. A New Zealand endemic, one of its defining characteristics is the purple-black pigmentation at the ends of its branches
February 27, 2025 at 4:10 AM