Fungi, algae and moss 🍄‍🟫🦠✨️

⛰️ Moss and lichen carpet in the Baltrum grey dunes

🔍 Cladonia portentosa is a shrub-like lichen whose main body consists of fungal tissue. It is one of Germany’s specially protected reindeer lichens. Lichens are always in a symbiotic relationship with algae or cyanobacteria. In a thin layer within the thallus – the body of a lichen – tiny green algae (mostly Trebouxia species) carry out photosynthesis, supplying the fungus with nutrients. In return, the fungus protects the algae from drying out and provides them with a habitat – a partnership that enables survival in the dry, nutrient-poor dunes.

🌍 Here, the lichens often grow alongside heath star moss (Campylopus introflexus). This moss is not native to Baltrum but originates from the Southern Hemisphere (southern South America, South Africa, southern Australia, New Zealand). Since 1975, however, it has spread widely and is now the dominant moss species on the island. Together, moss and lichens form a resilient ground cover that anchors the dune sand and, in many places, shapes the characteristic appearance of the island’s grey dunes.

🍄‍🟫 A single mushroom

🏐 In the last picture, I show a mosaic puffball (Handkea utriformis, also known as Lycoperdon utriforme, Lycoperdon caelatum, or Calvatia utriformis). This species is common across the northern temperate zones and is typically found growing alone or in small clusters. It prefers sandy, open grasslands or heathlands and is often encountered in coastal areas. The fruiting bodies usually appear from summer into late autumn.

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