Lichen Diversity in Metchosin's Military Lands with Curtix Bjork Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary A rare opportunity to hear from one of the top lichenologists. BOTANY NIGHT Military-owned lands, being off-limits for public and economic use, can preserve biodiversity in landscapes where original nature has become scarce and compromised. Lichens have on average finicky habitat requirements and little tolerance for human land use, but they occupy their original or nearly original habitats in some of the minimally-used areas of Department of National Defense lands on southern Vancouver Island. Curtis Bjork has recently inventoried lichen species on the DND properties Albert Head, Mary Hill and Rocky Point, finding many species new to British Columbia or North America, and some new to science. The roughly one square kilometer area of Albert Head may have the highest per unit area lichen species richness in the world, and portions of Mary Hill and Rocky Point also are extraordinarily rich in lichen species. Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature House, 7:30 p.m. Everyone welcome. https://www.facebook.com/events/359808877811045/
