TOPIC 7
L I C H E N S O F C O S T A R I C A Lichens are not mosses nor are they plants as is popularly believed. They are organisms that are classified in the Kingdom of Fungi, and they also have a great variety of shapes and colors that allows them to live in a great variety of substrates and places. (Umaña, s.f, paragraph 3).
That is why it is difficult to define what they are; however, there is a clear definition of this type of living being. Lichens are a self-sustaining association between a fungus and an algae and/or cyanobacterium. In lichens, the algae or cyanobacteria (scientifically called photobiont or phycobiont) is the energy producer, which through photosynthesis produces sugars and oxygen. On the other hand, the algae benefits from the fungus (mycobiont), because it protects it from adverse environmental conditions, such as loss of moisture, and provides it with the carbon dioxide that is produced in respiration. The necessary minerals generally come from atmospheric dust, rainwater and what the fungus can absorb from the substrate. Lichens can live in many different habitats, for example; páramo, tropical cloud forest, tropical rainforest and tropical dry forest. As commented before, lichens are included in the Fungi Kingdom, since for their identification and taxonomic classification the fruiting body of the fungus is taken into account, which is a structure formed by the fungi where the spores that come to be are produced like seeds in plants. The fruiting bodies have a great variety of shapes and colors. (Umaña, s.f, paragraph 6).
