LAMS General Meeting

Speaker: Lauren Jonker

Program: “Southern California Lichens: Monitoring, Conservation, and Community Science”

Lichens are one of the most overlooked yet essential groups of organisms in our landscapes. Neither plant nor moss, lichens are living partnerships between fungi and photosynthetic partners that thrive in some of the harshest environments on Earth. In Southern California, they paint our coastal bluffs, oak woodlands, and desert soils with remarkable diversity and serve as indicators of ecosystem health. Their presence and abundance reflect habitat integrity, climate influences, and the resilience of natural communities.
This talk will introduce lichens broadly and then focus on the unique lichen communities of Southern California. Drawing on recent surveys and herbarium work across San Diego, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, Lauren Jonker will share highlights from documenting rare species, recording patterns of diversity, and contributing specimens to regional collections. These efforts connect to current research themes in taxonomy, community ecology, and conservation.
The discussion will also look ahead at how long term monitoring, field-based surveys, and community science projects are reshaping our understanding of lichens, and why collections remain vital as time capsules of biodiversity. Participants will leave with a deeper appreciation for these hidden organisms and their role in sustaining ecosystems.

More information about LAMS events, including a biography of the speaker, is available on the LAMS Calendar page.

Directions to the community center are on the LAMS Locations page.