Lichens Lichens - Scottish Natural Heritage

The best lichen sites are on sunny, south-facing slopes
while the rare Atlantic mosses and liverworts, which
need more moisture, favour northern aspects. The
optimal sites for lichens are also well lit being around
the edge of glades or along woodland margins.
While the whole area is a lichenologists’ Mecca, sites
where burns and gorges cut through the woodland are
particularly special. Here, in ravines full of tangled
vegetation, there is a wider range of trees - oak
together with ash, elm, cherry and willows. Ash and
hazel have a more alkaline bark and are a home to
'jewels' such as the handsome Specklebellies
(Pseudocyphellaria species) and Blackberries and
Custard (Parmentaria chilense).
On higher ground the oak woods give way to grazed
birch woodland which is a different, but equally
distinctive, lichen-rich variant of Celtic rain forest. It is
dominated by silvery-grey leafy species many of which
grow directly on tree bark. This bark has a high acidity
due to 'washing out' or leaching by the high rainfall.
These western woods are far from being undisturbed
relics of the ancient forest. In times past, these woods
were extensively coppiced, and the wood used for
charcoal, tanning and bobbin-making. This activity
ceased about 150 years ago, but it is thought there was
always sufficient wildwood remaining for the entire suite
of rare lichens to survive. Today the best examples of
these woodlands are managed for nature conservation.
Netted Shield Lichen (Parmelia sulcata) showing the powdery reproductive parts (soralia)
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