Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Collema tenax
|
|
 |
| Soil jelly lichen. Photo by Sheri Hagwood, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Collema tenax
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Matthews, Robin F. 1993. Collema tenax. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/lichens/colten/all.html [].
Revisions :
12 September 2013: Common name provided and Postfire Regeneration
Strategies section added
ABBREVIATION :
COLTEN
SYNONYMS :
Collema cristatellum
Collema pulposum
NRCS PLANT CODE :
COTE60
COMMON NAMES :
soil jelly lichen
black lichen
desert lichen
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of soil jelly lichen is Collema tenax
(Swartz) Ach. (Collemaceae) [9,10,12,16,32]. The following varieties
are recognized:
Collema tenax var. ceranoides (Borrer) Degel. [9,10]
Collema tenax var. corallinum (Massal.) Degel. [10,32]
Collema tenax var. crustaceum (Krempelh.) Degel. [10]
Collema tenax var. expansum Degel.
Collema tenax var. tenax [32]LIFE FORM :
Lichen
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Collema tenax
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Thomson [32] referred to soil jelly lichen as a circumpolar species in arctic to
temperate regions. In North America, soil jelly lichen is known to occur
from Alberta and Saskatchewan south through the Great Plains to Texas
and the Southwest [9,23,33]. Fink [12] also places it in the eastern
United States west to Missouri and Minnesota.
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES31 Shinnery
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES40 Desert grasslands
STATES :
AZ CA CO ID IA KS MT NE NV NM
ND OK OR SD TX UT WY AB SK MEXICO
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K027 Mesquite bosque
K031 Oak - juniper woodlands
K032 Transition between K031 and K037
K033 Chaparral
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K039 Blackbrush
K040 Saltbush - greasewood
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush - bursage
K043 Paloverde - cactus shrub
K044 Creosotebush - tarbush
K045 Ceniza shrub
K046 Desert: vegetation largely lacking
K048 California steppe
K050 Fescue - wheatgrass
K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
K053 Grama - galleta steppe
K054 Grama - tobosa prairie
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
K057 Galleta - three-awn shrubsteppe
K058 Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe
K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
K060 Mesquite savanna
K061 Mesquite - acacia savanna
K062 Mesquite - live oak savanna
K063 Foothills prairie
K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
K065 Grama - buffalograss
K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
K068 Wheatgrass - grama - buffalograss
K069 Bluestem - grama prairie
K070 Sandsage - bluestem prairie
K071 Shinnery
K074 Bluestem prairie
K075 Nebraska Sandhills prairie
K076 Blackland prairie
K085 Mesquite - buffalograss
K086 Juniper - oak savanna
K087 Mesquite - oak savanna
K088 Fayette prairie
SAF COVER TYPES :
67 Mohrs ("shin") oak
68 Mesquite
220 Rocky Mountain juniper
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon - juniper
241 Western live oak
242 Mesquite
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Soil jelly lichen most likely occurs in ecosystems, Kuchler Plant
Associations, and SAF Cover Types in addition to those listed above.
However, information on other habitats where soil jelly lichen may be found is
lacking.
Common associates of soil jelly lichen in desert shrub or desert grassland
habitats include shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), black greasewood
(Sarcobatus vermiculatus), creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), white
burrobush (Hymenoclea salsola), Mormon tea (Ephedra torreyana),
sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.), red brome
(Bromus rubens), galleta (Hilaria jamesii), needle-and-thread grass
(Stipa comata), Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), bluebunch
wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis),
Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), sand dropseed (Sporobolus
cryptandrus), moss (Tortula ruralis), and lichens [18,21,26].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Collema tenax
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Cryptogamic soil crusts, including crusts formed by soil jelly lichen, are an
important component of many arid rangeland ecosystems in the western
United States [17]. Where cryptogam crusts are highly developed, the
soil surface is almost always highly stable [8]. They are important in
the reduction of soil erosion, and facilitate vascular plant seedling
establishment by improving water penetration and reducing runoff
[17,18]. Components that are capable of nitrogen fixation, such as C.
tenax, contribute a significant amount to the total soil nitrogen,
especially in arid soils [21,29]. Soils having high electrical
conductivity, high phosphorous, and high salt contents facilitate the
formation of cryptogam crusts [3]. Heavy grazing, especially during
seasons of low precipitation, high temperatures, and persistent winds
can seriously damage or destroy crusts formed by soil jelly lichen and other
cryptogams. During these seasons, soil jelly lichen is usually dormant and
brittle, and susceptible to trampling by livestock [4]. Vascular plant
communities may appear well managed and healthy, while cryptogamic crusts
are being severely disturbed. Managers of arid lands should be cautious
about accepting sparse cryptogamic cover as natural [20]. Cryptogam
analysis can be useful in evaluating the quality of grassland management
[21]. In Navaho National Monument, Arizona, soil jelly lichen was reduced from
0.8 percent cover in ungrazed areas to 0.4 percent cover in heavily
grazed areas. Although its cover was reduced, soil jelly lichen did not react to
grazing pressure as severely as other cryptogams in the study area [8].
Cryptogamic soil crusts, including crusts formed by soil jelly lichen, are an
important component of many arid rangeland ecosystems in the western
United States [17]. Where cryptogam crusts are highly developed, the
soil surface is almost always highly stable [8]. They are important in
the reduction of soil erosion, and facilitate vascular plant seedling
establishment by improving water penetration and reducing runoff
[17,18]. Components such as soil jelly lichen that are capable of nitrogen
fixation contribute a significant amount to the total soil nitrogen,
especially in arid soils [21,29]. Soils having high electrical
conductivity, high phosphorous, and high salt contents facilitate the
formation of cryptogam crusts [3]. Heavy grazing, especially during
seasons of low precipitation, high temperatures, and persistent winds
can seriously damage or destroy crusts formed by soil jelly lichen and other
cryptogams. During these seasons, soil jelly lichen is usually dormant and
brittle, and susceptible to trampling by livestock [4]. Vascular plant
communities may appear well managed and healthy while cryptogamic crusts
are being severely disturbed. Managers of arid lands should be cautious
about accepting sparse cryptogamic cover as natural [20]. Cryptogam
analysis can be useful in evaluating the quality of grassland management
[21]. In Navaho National Monument, Arizona, soil jelly lichen was reduced from
0.8 percent cover in ungrazed areas to 0.4 percent cover in heavily
grazed areas. Although its cover was reduced, soil jelly lichen did not react to
grazing pressure as severely as other cryptogams in the study area [8].
In Utah, cryptogam crusts recovered from grazing within 14 to 17 years
after grazing was eliminated [4]. Soil jelly lichen recovers rapidly from
grazing [31].
In semiarid and arid grasslands of Canyonlands National Park, Utah,
cryptogams, including soil jelly lichen, are instrumental in the build-up of
organic matter and soil nutrients. Cryptogam cover stabilizes soils
eroded by heavy winds and torrential rains, especially in undisturbed
areas [21]. Relative abundance of soil jelly lichen was "significantly" less in
formerly grazed areas compared to areas of undisturbed climax
grasslands. The ungrazed areas of the park had an average of six
cryptogam species per site, with total cryptogram coverage of 38
percent. The disturbed or formerly grazed areas had an average of two
cryptogam species per site, with a total coverage of 5 percent. This
difference suggests that cryptogam species such as soil jelly lichen may play a
more important role in the stability of desert grasslands than
previously recognized. The formerly grazed areas had less organic
matter, less available phosphorous, and higher calcium content of
surface soils due to slow sheet erosion due to lack of protection from
an established cryptogam cover [20].
Lichens are widely used as indicators of air pollution or air quality.
These poikilohydric plants are extremely sensitive to atmospheric
contaminants, especially sulfur dioxide, because they absorb moisture as
water vapor. Nitrogenase activity and photosynthetic rates of soil jelly lichen
are severely inhibited by sulfur dioxide. Nitrogen fixation is reduced
at fluoride and lead concentrations as low as 0.01 parts per million.
When soil jelly lichen and other nitrogen-fixing lichens are abundant in
nitrogen-poor grassland soils, any loss of fixed nitrogen due to
reduction of fixation rates by contaminants would probably reduce yields
of rangeland grasses [29].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Collema tenax
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Soil jelly lichen is a foliose, terricolous lichen with a thick thallus that
is variable in size. It is usually dark olive green or black in color
[9,32]. Apothecia are small [12]. The photosynthetic symbiont (Nostoc
commune Vauch.) is capable of nitrogen fixation [7]. Soil jelly lichen is
drought and desiccation tolerant [1].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
NO-ENTRY
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Lichen reproduction mainly occurs by means of thallus fragmentation or
the dispersal of isidia and soredia. Wind, water, or animals play an
important role in the dispersal of these vegetative propagules
[1,15,27]. Soil jelly lichen also produces small apothecia [12,32].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Lichens, including soil jelly lichen, are very dependent on high relative
humidity, and their abundance is generally in direct relation to the
relative humidity. Lichens grow best in direct sun. Since soil jelly lichen is
able to take up moisture from the air, the underlying soil is not as
important a source of moisture as it is to vascular plants. Lichens can
grow on shallow, sterile soils [2]. Soil jelly lichen is referred to as a
ubiquitous indicator of basic soils [28]. In the Intermountain region,
it is best developed on gypsiferous soils of the Colorado Plateau and on
calcareous soils of the Great Basin [31].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Lichens may be pioneers on some sites because they are dependent on air
moisture rather than soil moisture, and can tolerate shallow
substrata. They persist in environments too harsh for higher plants,
provided relative humidityis sufficiently high for lichen growth and
temperature is sufficiently low to inhibit competitors [2]. Collema
tenax is often a primary colonizer of disturbed soils [28]. In the Swan
Valley, Montana, it is most often found on disturbed sites [25].
Soil jelly lichen is also abundant in climax grassland and shrub habitats
[17,18,19,20]. It is the most prevalent lichen on both grazed and
ungrazed areas of Canyonlands National Park, Utah [20]. Soil jelly lichen
had the following relative abundance and cover percentage during
successive stages of recovery from grazing (first samples were taken 5
years after grazing pressure had been eliminated [19]:
Year Sampled Relative Abundance Cover (%)
___________________________________________________________________________
Ungrazed 1967 9710 19.0
Grazed 1967 5548 3.80
Grazed 1977 4880 6.65
In Camp Floyd State Park, Utah, soil jelly lichen constituted 3.0 and 6.2 percent
of the cover in areas not grazed for 7 and 20 years, respectively [17].
Cryptogamic soil crusts, including those formed by soil jelly lichen, are common
in seral rabbitbrush communities of the Idaho Snake River Plain. Their
presence continues through the sagebrush communities that occur in later
succession [27].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Collema tenax
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Poikilohydric plants such as soil jelly lichen dry quickly during periods of low
atmospheric humidity because of their absence of roots and water storage
tissue, and low resistance to water loss [5]. These characteristics make
lichens highly flammable under dry conditions [12].
In desert shrub habitats in Utah, soil jelly lichen rapidly invades burn sites by
the dispersal of vegetative spores from nearby areas [18].
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Initial off-site colonizer (off site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer (on- or off-site spores)
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Collema tenax
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Lichens in general are destroyed by fire [24]. Rangeland fires can
severely damage all components of soil crusts, including soil jelly lichen [17].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Information on the response of soil jelly lichen to fire is sparse. However,
after a 1977 fire in shadscale-black greasewood habitats of Camp Floyd
State Park, Utah, soil jelly lichen was the first colonizer to invade the burned
area. It was present on burned sites and in unburned controls with the
following cover percentages [18]:
1980 1982
_____________________________________
Burned 0.1 2.3
Unburned 5.2 5.8
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Application of soil crust slurries to burned areas of a black
greasewood-shadscale community in central Utah resulted in rapid
stabilization of the soil due to crust reestablishment (including the
establishment of soil jelly lichen) [30].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Collema tenax
REFERENCES :
1. Ahmadjian, V.; Hale, M. E. 1973. The lichens. New York: Academic Press.
697 p. [18880]
2. Ahti, T.; Hepburn, T. L. 1967. Preliminary studies on woodland caribou
range, especially on lichen stands, in Ontario. Res. Rep. (Wildlife) No.
74. Toronto, ON: Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, Research
Branch. 134 p. [13294]
3. Anderson, David C.; Harper, Kimball T.; Holmgren, Ralph C. 1982. Factors
influencing development of Cryptogamic soil crusts in Utah deserts.
Journal of Range Management. 35(2): 180-185. [5498]
4. Anderson, David C.; Harper, K. T.; Rushforth, S. R. 1982. Recovery of
cryptogamic soil crusts from grazing on Utah winter ranges. Journal of
Range Management. 35(3): 355-359. [5304]
5. Auclair, A. N. D. 1983. The role of fire in lichen-dominated tundra and
forest-tundra. In: Wein, Ross W.; MacLean, David A., eds. The role of
fire in northern circumpolar ecosystems. Scope 18. New York: John Wiley
& Sons: 235-256. [18510]
6. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
7. Boissiere, Jean-Claude; Boissiere, Marie-Claude; Champion-Arnaud,
Patrick; Lallemant, Richard. 1987. The biological cycle of Nostoc in the
genera Peligera and Collema cultured in-vitro and in the lichen thallus.
Canadian Journal of Botany. 65: 1468-1477. [21792]
8. Brotherson, Jack D.; Rushforth, Samuel R.; Johansen, Jeffrey R. 1983.
Effects of long-term grazing on cryptogram crust cover in Navajo Nationa
National Monument, Ariz. Journal of Range Management. 36(5): 579-581.
[21581]
9. Duncan, U. K. 1959. A guide to the study of lichens. Arbroath: T. Buncle
& Co. Ltd., Printers & Publishers. 164 p. [18878]
10. Egan, R. S. 1987. A fifth checklist of lichens of the United States and
Canada. Bryologist. 90(2): 77-173. [21366]
11. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
12. Fink, B. 1935. The lichen flora of the United States. Ann Arbor, MI:
University of Michigan Press. 426 p. [18877]
13. Foote, M. Joan. 1983. Classification, description, and dynamics of plant
communities after fire in the taiga of interior Alaska. Res. Pap.
PNW-307. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 108 p. [7080]
14. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
15. Hale, M. E., Jr. 1969. How to know the lichens. Dubuque, IA: W. M. C.
Brown Company Publishers. 226 p. [21367]
16. Hale, Mason E., Jr.; Culberson, William Louis. 1970. A fourth checklist
of the lichens of the continental United States and Canada. Bryologist.
73(3): 499-543. [19940]
17. Johansen, Jeffrey R.; St. Clair, Larry L. 1986. Croptogramic soil
crusts: recovery from grazing near Camp Floyd State P Park, Utah, USA.
Great Basin Naturalist. 46(4): 632-640. [21579]
18. Johansen, Jeffrey R.; St. Clair, Larry L.; Webb, Bruce L.; Nebeker, Glen
T. 1984. Recovery patterns of cryptogramic soil crusts in desert
rangelands l following fire disturbance. Bryologist. 87(3): 238-243.
[21629]
19. Kleiner, Edgar F. 1983. Successional trends in an ungrazed, arid
grassland over a decade. Journal of Range Management. 36(1): 114-118.
[21578]
20. Kleiner, E. F.; Harper, K. T. 1972. Environment and community
organization in grasslands of Canyonlands National Park. Ecology. 53(2):
299-309. [6371]
21. Kleiner, Edgar F.; Harper, K. T. 1977. Soil properties in relation to
cryptogramic groundcover in Canyonlands National Park. Journal of Range
Management. 30(3): 202-205. [21630]
22. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
23. Looman, J. 1964. The distribution of some lichen communities in the
prairie provinces and adjacent parts of the Great Plains. Bryologist.
67: 209-224. [21793]
24. Lutz, H. J. 1953. The effects of forest fires on the vegetation of
interior Alaska. Juneau, AK: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 36 p.
[7076]
25. McCune, Bruce. 1982. Lichens of the Swan Valley, Montana. Bryologist.
85(1): 13-21. [21743]
26. Nelson, Deanna R.; Harper, Kimball T. 1991. Site characteristics and
habitat requirements of the endangered dwarf bear-claw poppy (Arctomecon
humilis Coville, Papaveraceae). Great Basin Naturalist. 51(2): 167-175.
[16569]
27. McArthur, E. Durant; Welch, Bruce, L., compilers. 1986.
Proceedings--symposium on the biology of Artemisia and Chrysothamnus;
1984 July 9-13; Provo, UT. General Technical Report INT-200. Ogden, UT:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station; 1986. 398 p. [1582]
28. Seward, M. R. D., ed. 1977. Lichen ecology. London, NY: Academis Press.
550 p. [21576]
29. Sheridan, Richard P. 1979. Impact of emissions from coal-fired
electricity generating facilities on N2-fixing lichens. Bryologist.
82(1): 54-58. [20487]
30. St. Clair, Larry L.; Johansen, Jeffrey R. 1985. Rapid reestablishment of
cryptogamic soil crusts after fire through use of a soil crust slurry.
Journal of Phycology. 21(supl): 10. [21794]
31. St. Clair, Larry L.; Johansen, Jeffrey R.; Rushforth, Samuel R. 1993.
Lichens of soil crust communities in the Intermountain area of the
western United States. Great Basin Naturalist. 53(1): 5-12. [21050]
32. Thomson, J. W. 1984. American arctic lichens. I. The macrolichens. New
York: Columbia University Press. 504 p. [21371]
33. Wetmore, Clifford M. 1976. Macrolichens of Big Bend National Park,
Texas. Bryologist. 79: 296-313. [21796]
34. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Biological Survey. [n.d.].
NPLichen: A National Park Service lichen data base. Madison, WI: U.S.
Department of the Interior, National Biological Survey, Wisconsin
Cooperative Research Unit, Institute for Environmental Studies,
University of Wisconsin-Madison. [23373]
FEIS Home Page
