Items welcome: upcoming events, news and images! Send items to Raymond Griffiths
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Two BLS members, Neil Sanderson and Andy Cross, carrying out a monitoring survey, funded by Welsh Natural Resources, in one of the most important Welsh temperate rainforests have made some very significant discoveries. The site was the deep and difficult to access ravine of Ceunant Llennyrch, a National Nature Reserve owned by Welsh Natural Resources and the Woodland Trust. This was already known to be an exceptional site, especially for the occurrence of temperate rainforest specialist species of smooth bark on older shrubs.
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Our website has had an upgrade! Thanks very much to the website committee for all their work on this - and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) for hosting us.
We have hopefully improved the look and feel of the website, particularly on mobile. Do let us know if there is anything that does not work - tell Chris on webmaster@britishlichensociety.org.uk with a screenshot if necessary.
Most of the website pages should work exactly the same as before. Some have got a slightly different interface, such as the species accounts and maps entry point where you need to search for a species rather than select from a huge dropdown.
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Read your Spring 2022 newsletter
The newsletter has these sections: Lichens in the media, BLS Archives, Lichen Chat & Improvement Groups, LABS groups, Lichenicolous Fungus Chat & Improvement Group, Online Learning, Local groups, Other local news, Conservation Committee, Website changes, Species and Maps, Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland edition 3 (LGBI3), The Lichenologist & BLS Bulletin, Field meetings, Get Involved
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Dear BLS Members and Interested Lovers of Lichens,
It is time to share with you arrangements for this year's AGM, during which verbal reports from all the officers will be presented. Details of the meeting are below and attachments regarding finances are included. All members and non members are welcome to join; only members are allowed to vote.
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Due to current circumstances, mainly regarding uncertainty about large groups meeting, we will be unable to organise a hybrid meeting following our AGM as we had planned. Kew’s current guidance is not to host large meetings, and I know that many people are wary of large gatherings. The officers and trustees met last night (10 January), and we decided that the best course of action will be to go ahead with the formal AGM business meeting on Saturday 29 January at 10.30AM as planned, as an online Zoom meeting, but to postpone the programme of talks until the Spring, when there seems a more viable option of people meeting in person again.
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On Thursday 9th December, at 10.06 am on the BBC World Service, an edition of The Forum will discussing algae and their evolution, their importance for life on earth and their potential harmful effects. Among those taking part will be BLS member Dr Gothamie Weerakoon, senior curator of lichens and slime moulds at the Natural History Museum. The programme will also be available as a podcast.
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Two new sets of resources are now available on the website.
Species Descriptions of UK lichens written in straight-forward language.
The lichen Species Descriptions are available as downloadable pdf files for use offline on computer, tablet or phone as well as while as online. Their straight-forward language makes them accessible to all. The first descriptions released are a bit of a mixture, but we hope to concentrate on the most common species over the next few months.
Lichenicolous fungi information including descriptions of some fungi occurring in the UK.
The Lichenicolous Fungi page aims to be a repository for:
- Keys to lichenicolous fungi on specific hosts.
- Guides to lichenicolous fungi on some widespread hosts.
- Descriptions of individual lichenicolous fungi.
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The International Association of Lichenology 9 meeting is all online this summer - from August 1st to 6th 2021 - meaning many people from around the world will be able to attend. Registration fees do apply for all attendees, and the British Lichen Society and the IAL are generously sponsoring a number of awards to help defray these costs for those who wish to apply. You will need to be a member of either or both of the societies to be awarded a grant.