Malham Car Park Lichens: Amazing change in 10 years

24 March 2019: I revisted a young ash tree I had surveyed 10 (and also 7 years) earlier and found five extra lichens on it: - in Malham YDNP car park.

The bag is at the foot of the tree, near the Physcia dubia

Parmelina pastillifera
Punctelia jeckeri
Ramalina fastigiata
Physcia dubia
Melanohalea exasperatula
SD89974 62678

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The first visit to the tree had been as part of the "Algae and Lichens walk" I ran in 2009 for Craven Conservation Group, starting from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Centre Car Park at Malham, via Janet's Foss to Gordale Scar. Lichen expert Allan Pentecost led the walk the first time, then I repeated it. I made a detailed guided walk leaflet, so that I would know what to expect at each tree and stopping point.

I looked at the second ash tree this March.. and was amazed to see five new species that I had not recorded in the car park before, never mind on that tree!!   SD89974 62678 in 2009

Here are pictures of the new lichens:

Parmelina pastillifera

Ramalina fastigiata  & Punctelia jeckeri

Punctelia jeckeri

Punctelia jeckeri seen closer

Physcia dubia near base of trunk

The bag is at the foot of the tree, near the Physcia dubia

Melanohalea exasperatula   ( and Punctelia jeckeri)

Melanohalea exasperatula

Note the above identifications are provisional.   Comments welcome.

What caused me to go back and resurvey this tree?

The story:-
Hectad  SD86 (Settle-Horton-Malham Tarn). - That's my "home" 10x10km square.
and this spring I am surveying it for lichens.

In February, Janet Simpkin from the British Lichen society gave me a map of Vice County 64 showing the number of lichens recorded in every one of the 1 km squares.  There are lots of empty 1km squares in SD86. I have started from the bottom left at Rathmell and worked on small areas in each of the first three going up from the bottom left.

But today 24 March -  I had to visit Malham Chapel in the East. they had a special open day to show the newly renovated building (-Do have a look in if you are passing)  and I started surveying there. I spent several hours looking at the lichens on their short stretch of wall. - Malham Chapel churchyard - for lichens.  (That will be another web post one day)

Only to discover, now I have got home, that it is 50m into the NEXT hectad!!.  SD90056267  

Ddduuuuuh!

Still at the end of the afternoon I had walked into the adjacent National Car Park Car park (definitely within SD86) to look at the  three trees I had recorded in 2009-2012 when I prepared the lichens nature trail walk from the car park to Gordale Scar.

Click Here to see the results of
The First One sq km of my Settle Hectad SD8060 project