Everglades National Park Lichen Project
The Everglades National Park Lichen Project is a volunteer project under the direction of Rick (Frederick) and Jean Seavey, lichenologists. It has laboratory space within the South Florida Natural Resource Center facilities of Everglades National Park (ENP). Project purpose is to inventory the lichens found in the park and deposit lichen specimens studied in the South Florida Collections Management Center (SFCMC) for curation.
Christmas Lichen, Herpothallon rubrocincta
Since inception in 2009 the lab has been renovated and equipped to meet our needs. An average of 10 volunteers have assisted with lichen identification activities each annual season donating a total of 19194 hours to the park through 2012.
At the end of our 2012 season we had identified 510 lichens and written six professional papers describing 6 species new to science and adding an additional 23 to the North American lichen checklist. 2311 lichen specimens had been delivered to the South Florida Collections Management Center (SFCMC).
Read additional pages to learn why it has taken so long for ENP to address this issue, why it is such a challenge, why we are finding so many lichens and why it is important.