Lichens of Otago
Did you know Otago has a rich lichen flora with over 1150 indigenous species in the region?
A lichen is made up of at least two living things – a fungus (which cannot make its own food) and an organism that photosynthesises (makes food using sunlight), such as an alga or a cyanobacterium. Together, they form the lichen’s body. The fungus receives food from the photosynthesising partner. In turn, the alga or cyanobacterium is protected from the outside environment and gets water and minerals from the fungus.
Lichens are divided into three distinct groups, according to their shape. There are:
- foliose lichens, resembling dried-up paper and leaves, often growing in a rosette form
- fruticose lichens, which are more like twigs, with stalks and branches
- crustose lichens, resembling crusts and paint splashes on rocks and bark.
Aotearoa New Zealand’s wide range of terrestrial (land) ecosystems support an exceptionally rich lichen flora, being about 2,000 species with more to be discovered. This means approximately 10% of the world’s lichens are found in about 0.18% of the global land area.
Our main islands in Aotearoa New Zealand stretch from latitude 34°– 47° South, with outlying islands extending this to 29°– 52° South, creating a wide climatic range for lichens, from tropical to subtropical in the north to subantarctic in the south, with a long cool temperate band in between.
Lichens play a vital, yet under-recognised, role in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems. The environments with the greatest diversity of lichens in Aotearoa New Zealand are forests and shrublands but they are found in many other places, including urban areas heavily modified by humans. Lichens may be important components of sites that are too extreme for other vascular plants to grow, such as mountain cliffs or boulder fields.
While lichens are generally terrestrial, a few aquatic lichens are known, including some that occur on barnacles.
Many other species (taxa) cannot be accurately assessed for their risk of extinction due to a lack of current information about their distribution and population size.
In Otago we have over 1150 species of lichens. A species list can be downloaded below.
To find out more about pukoko or lichens in Aotearoa New Zealand, visit the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network / Rōpū Hononga Koiora Taiao ki Aotearoa (NZPCN), the Flora of New Zealand series, and the Biota of New Zealand websites. A guide and a key to our lichens are linked from the NZPCN website. To contribute observation records on lichen to a participatory science platform, visit the iNaturalist platform.
New Zealand Plant Conservation Network
New Zealand Plant Conservation Network / Rōpū Hononga Koiora Taiao ki Aotearoa (NZPCN) is a society that aims to protect and restore Aotearoa New Zealand’s indigenous plant life. The society includes lichens because they are a composed of one or more algae and a fungus.
Flora of New Zealand
Electronic versions of the printed Flora of New Zealand books, including having links to two volumes on lichens. Each volume provides an authoritative synthesis of the state of knowledge of our unique New Zealand flora, including information on the taxonomy, nomenclature and descriptive data for the taxa covered.
Biota of New Zealand
Biota of New Zealand provides access to information about the fungi, land invertebrates and plants as well as some virus and bacteria that are found in, or relevant to, Aotearoa – New Zealand.
iNaturalist NZ
iNaturalist is an online-access participatory science project where you can record and share observations on plants, fungi, and animals, contributing to scientific research and conservation efforts.
February 2014
PDF | 20 MB
This introductory guide celebrates the extraordinary diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand lichens with full colour images of over 250 common lichen species, plus a glossary illustrating over 60 useful identifying features.
PDF | 20 MB
This helpful booklet complements the other lichen guide above with diagrams, many colour photos and interesting information about Aotearoa New Zealand’s lichens. Colour photos of all bar one of the Aotearoa New Zealand foliose genera are shown, with an updated illustrated glossary of technical terms.
