Geo Beck | I found the one thing on Earth that loves rocks more than I do @Geobeck | Uploaded March 2021 | Updated October 2024, 13 hours ago.
Lichens and I have one major thing in common: we love rocks! You know those crusty things on rocks and trees that look like dead plants or moss, or even stains? Well, they are neither a plant nor a moss, but a lichen! A living thing, actually MULTIPLE living things, living as a tiny ecosystem. Ever since a professor of mine told me about the lichens on rocks while doing geology field work, I've been fascinated with lichens. I read a book recently (Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake) and it made me want to dive in deeper to these little worlds surrounding us and how they affect the rocks they grow on.
In this video I teach you about what I've learned about lichens: like how they have been sent to SPACE, have a mysterious past (and present) in the science community, inspired the term 'symbiosis', resemble ingredients of a sandwich, have tiny root-like 'tentacles' that help attach themselves to rocks, trees, stone walls, monuments, gravestones and more, how they can live for thousands of years and can help estimate the retreat of ice sheets, can change color like a chameleon, how they caused some trouble with the statues of Easter Island recently, why they aren't found in LA, are an important part of pedogenesis, and much more. I also went on a little lichen hunting adventure and tried to find the three growth forms of lichen in a couple different environmental conditions.
As a geologist, I had fun finding a way to connect my love and curiosity for rocks with my curiosity of lichens, fungi, and the world around me. I hope that after watching this video, you'll have a newfound appreciation for those things on rocks and trees that - up until now - you may not have realized were living things. And maybe next time you venture outside, you'll see the world around you in a new light like I did after reading that book. :)
If you "liche-d" this video (I'm sorry, I had to), feel free to check out the other videos on my channel about geology and other Earth-related topics. Thanks for watching!
some helpful links about lichens:
fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/lichens/biology.shtml
gis.nacse.org/lichenair
britannica.com/science/lichen
subscribe for more vids ➭ bit.ly/geobeck
why I got a geology degree: bit.ly/ilovegeology
what gives crystals their shapes?: bit.ly/crystalmorphology
talking about soil while painting with it: bit.ly/paintingwithsoil
I want YOU to learn about rocks: bit.ly/yaygeology
everything you need to know about geodes: bit.ly/howaregeodesformed
geology scavenger hunt: bit.ly/geologyscavengerhunt
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 why I made this video
1:02 SPECIAL GUEST
1:15 wait, those crusty things are ALIVE?
2:33 they grow where??
2:53 what exactly is it made of?
4:46 what's a video without a cool time lapse
5:17 a little lichen history lesson
6:12 mutualistic vs parasitic debate
6:42 two words. lichen sandwich
7:56 lichen hunting adventures
11:55 technical difficulties
12:04 lichens are fierce
12:55 geologists' nuisances
13:08 how lichens eat rock (or not?)
13:16 let's get physical
13:47 a battle of rocks and trees
14:39 chemical weathering
15:07 lichen takeover at Easter Island
15:31 saxicolous lichens, say that 5 times fast
16:01 so do lichens eat rocks or not?
16:32 lichens are anti-LA
16:46 they make soil too
17:32 I couldn't not make a lichen pun
Lichens and I have one major thing in common: we love rocks! You know those crusty things on rocks and trees that look like dead plants or moss, or even stains? Well, they are neither a plant nor a moss, but a lichen! A living thing, actually MULTIPLE living things, living as a tiny ecosystem. Ever since a professor of mine told me about the lichens on rocks while doing geology field work, I've been fascinated with lichens. I read a book recently (Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake) and it made me want to dive in deeper to these little worlds surrounding us and how they affect the rocks they grow on.
In this video I teach you about what I've learned about lichens: like how they have been sent to SPACE, have a mysterious past (and present) in the science community, inspired the term 'symbiosis', resemble ingredients of a sandwich, have tiny root-like 'tentacles' that help attach themselves to rocks, trees, stone walls, monuments, gravestones and more, how they can live for thousands of years and can help estimate the retreat of ice sheets, can change color like a chameleon, how they caused some trouble with the statues of Easter Island recently, why they aren't found in LA, are an important part of pedogenesis, and much more. I also went on a little lichen hunting adventure and tried to find the three growth forms of lichen in a couple different environmental conditions.
As a geologist, I had fun finding a way to connect my love and curiosity for rocks with my curiosity of lichens, fungi, and the world around me. I hope that after watching this video, you'll have a newfound appreciation for those things on rocks and trees that - up until now - you may not have realized were living things. And maybe next time you venture outside, you'll see the world around you in a new light like I did after reading that book. :)
If you "liche-d" this video (I'm sorry, I had to), feel free to check out the other videos on my channel about geology and other Earth-related topics. Thanks for watching!
some helpful links about lichens:
fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/lichens/biology.shtml
gis.nacse.org/lichenair
britannica.com/science/lichen
subscribe for more vids ➭ bit.ly/geobeck
why I got a geology degree: bit.ly/ilovegeology
what gives crystals their shapes?: bit.ly/crystalmorphology
talking about soil while painting with it: bit.ly/paintingwithsoil
I want YOU to learn about rocks: bit.ly/yaygeology
everything you need to know about geodes: bit.ly/howaregeodesformed
geology scavenger hunt: bit.ly/geologyscavengerhunt
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 why I made this video
1:02 SPECIAL GUEST
1:15 wait, those crusty things are ALIVE?
2:33 they grow where??
2:53 what exactly is it made of?
4:46 what's a video without a cool time lapse
5:17 a little lichen history lesson
6:12 mutualistic vs parasitic debate
6:42 two words. lichen sandwich
7:56 lichen hunting adventures
11:55 technical difficulties
12:04 lichens are fierce
12:55 geologists' nuisances
13:08 how lichens eat rock (or not?)
13:16 let's get physical
13:47 a battle of rocks and trees
14:39 chemical weathering
15:07 lichen takeover at Easter Island
15:31 saxicolous lichens, say that 5 times fast
16:01 so do lichens eat rocks or not?
16:32 lichens are anti-LA
16:46 they make soil too
17:32 I couldn't not make a lichen pun
