Decomposition and Microscopic Photographs - fungi, mold, lichens, recycling critters etc.

Dale's Decomposition and Microscopic Photographs - fungi, mold, lichens, recycling critters etc.

This will be another photo rich thread showing many organisms that engage in the break down and recycling of organic materials. I don't have an electron microscope, so everything you see will be organisms visible with the naked eye. Many will be magnified by my camera and computer.

We have a section for edible mushrooms so I will not try to duplicate that here. Photos will come from wild areas, gardens, compost heaps etc. I'm putting it here, in the art section since it displays natures artistry and my own ability to squeeze quite a bit out of a mid grade movie camera set to take stills. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first nine photos are all taken on the same bit of wood.

All of this life exixts on about a 4 sq. inch area. That's all of these combined. Some cover only 1/2 sq. inch.

About half of this 2x4 end is depicted in these photos. It's part of a railing in a swampy area of a park.

The last two photos were taken a few days later and after a rain.

The beginnings of fungal bloom in a damp, shady area.

These critters live on organic debris.

The moss on dead logs helps to keep the wood moist and it gobbles up nutrients released during decomposition.

An unknown bug that was found around dead wood.

Lichen break down rock which releases nutrients that have been locked up for millions of years.

The third photo shows a fungus that has overcome a lichen.

A variety of tree fungus.

Tree fungus in an oak forest.

More taken with oak trees.

More taken with oak trees.

All of the tree fungus shown so far have been on dead or dying trees. The fungus (it may be a lichen)in the last two photos of this group are on a what appears to be a healthy young tree. It resembles oak leaves but the green colour comes from algae on the surface. The underside is white.

Update -I googled oak leaf lichen and got lucky. That's what it is called. I like it when things are named for how they look. If it was called Thompson's lichen or Stellers lichen, I'd still be searching. It goes by many other names ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quoting wikipedia ---- Lobaria pulmonaria is a large epiphytic lichen consisting of an ascomycete fungus and a green algal partner living together in a symbiotic relationship with a cyanobacterium—a symbiosis involving members of three kingdoms of organisms. Commonly known by various names like tree lungwort, lung lichen, lung moss, lungwort lichen, oak lungs or oak lungwort. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A different day and location. This is a much more damp area than the sunny hilside where the oaks grow. The fungus lichen here is on broad leaf maple.

The last photo shows moss and ferns about 60 feet up.

Spores have recently been shed and will soon be moved about by the November rain.

There are quite a variety of mushrooms in this mostly coniferous forest.

THE SHOT OF THE DAY ! --- This mushroom was in a difficult location where I had to reach in with my camera. I didn't know about the slug until I put the photos onto the computer.

Tree fungus on evergreens. Fungus that are at first separate, will often grow together as pictured in the centre of the second photo.

They also grow around and engulf obstacles like the small stick in the lower right of the third photo.

These big gooey mushrooms are now decomposing.

The big one in the second photo is a different species and is quite woody.

A fly is eating. The last one has already dropped spores.

This type is goey like jello. I'm careful to not touch anything with my bare skin, since I'm no expert in identifying poisonous varieties.

One of the most visible decomposers and certainly the loudest are the woodpeckers. They shred old wood in search of other decomposers.

On a quiet day with little wind it is easy to follow the sound. This often leads to boggy spots or other difficult terrain.

I got lucky with these ones who were just off of good hiking trails. The big red headed woodpecker is hard to catch although I've seen many.

Woodpecker in the same oaks that host many of the earlier fungi.

Flickers, wrens and many other birds will dig into dead wood or make a habit of returning to trees where woodpeckers have done the heavy work.