Amateur naturalist discovers and names new species of lichen after President Obama.

The newly discovered lichen Calophaca obamae
growing on Santa Rosa Island. Photo Credit:
J.C. Lendemer.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Kerry Knudsen, a curator at the University of California Riverside Herbarium discovered the new species of lichen during a survey on Santa Rosa Island, California in 2007. He “made the final collections of C. obamae during the suspenseful final weeks of President Obama’s campaign for the United States presidency, and this paper was written during the international jubilation over his election. Indeed, the final draft was completed on the very day of President Obama’s inauguration.” Since his inauguration, President Obama has called for science policy to be “based on facts, not ideology.” Knudsen named the new species Caloplaca obamae “to show my appreciation for the president’s support of science and science education.” The discovery was announced in the March issue of the journal Opuscula Philolichenum.

Knudsen, 58, retired from construction work in 2000 and now volunteers at the UCR Herbarium. There are few scientists studying lichens in the United States, and Knudsen has become an expert in the field. Since starting at the herbarium in 2004, he has built a collection of over 10,000 lichens. Even though he has no academic degree, he has published more than 70 peer-reviewed research papers on lichens. He has described more than 25 species of lichens and lichenicolous (growing on lichens) fungi and in turn has had three new species of lichens named after him.

Lichens are a unique form of life made possible by the symbiotic relationship between a fungus and algae. These organisms generally resemble a moss or dry leaf but often have bright colors. Lichens are important in ecological systems because through their cooperative arrangement they are capable of surviving in relatively inhospitable areas. Lichens are often the first organisms to inhabit regions since they can grow on the surfaces of solid rock. Plants are incapable of growing under these conditions because they are unable to attach their roots to the surface. The fungal partner can adhere to the surface but would starve without the nutrients produced by the photosynthetic algae. As the lichen grows, it extends thread-like hyphae along the surface and into cracks in the rock promoting the breakdown of rock into more habitable soil. In other regions, lichen help retain water in soil or sand to promote a substrate where higher plants can survive.
 

Adapted from materials provided by University of California Riverside, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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