{"id":1491,"date":"2024-02-18T14:54:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T09:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/?p=1491"},"modified":"2024-04-03T07:06:10","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T01:36:10","slug":"q-lichens-which-are-capable-of-initiating-ecological-succession-even-on-a-bare-rock-are-actually-a-symbiotic-association-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/upsc\/q-lichens-which-are-capable-of-initiating-ecological-succession-even-on-a-bare-rock-are-actually-a-symbiotic-association-of","title":{"rendered":"Q.\u00a0Lichens, which are capable of initiating ecological succession even on a bare rock, are actually a symbiotic association of"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"mcq wp-block-list\">\n<li>Algae and bacteria<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Algae and fungi<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bacteria and fungi<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fungi and mosses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Answer:<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>(b) Algae and fungi<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"lichens\"><strong>Lichen<\/strong>s<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lichen is a&nbsp;<strong>composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lichens are&nbsp;<strong>important actors in nutrient cycling and act as producers<\/strong>&nbsp;which many higher trophic feeders feed on, such as reindeer, gastropods, nematodes, mites, and springtails.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lichens&nbsp;<strong>do not have roots<\/strong>&nbsp;that absorb water and nutrients as plants do,\u200a but like plants,&nbsp;<strong>they produce their own nutrition by photosynthesis<\/strong>. When they grow on plants,&nbsp;<strong>they do not live as parasites, but instead use the plant\u2019s surface as a substrate.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lichens occur from sea level to high alpine elevations, in many environmental conditions, and can grow on almost any surface. They are abundant growing on bark, leaves, mosses, or other lichens and hanging from branches&nbsp;<strong>\u201cliving on thin air\u201d (epiphytes)<\/strong>&nbsp;in rainforests and in temperate woodland. They grow on rock, walls, gravestones, roofs, exposed soil surfaces, rubber, bones, and in the soil as part of biological soil crusts. Various lichens have adapted to survive in some of the most extreme environments on Earth: arctic tundra, hot dry deserts, rocky coasts, and toxic slag heaps. They can even live inside solid rock, growing between the grains (endolithic).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is estimated that&nbsp;<strong>6\u20138% of Earth\u2019s land surface is covered by lichens.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lichens are a&nbsp;<strong>keystone species<\/strong>&nbsp;in many ecosystems and benefit trees and birds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"algae\"><strong>Algae<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Algae are in another kingdom (Protista) separate from plants and fungi. Algae are&nbsp;<strong>chlorophyll-bearing, simple, thalloid, aurotrophic and largely aquatic plants.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They occur in&nbsp;<strong>moist stones, soils, and wood or in association with fungi and animals.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are several types of algae: green, brown, red, gold. They can survive in salt water and in freshwater on their own, and in any environment when part of a lichen relationship.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Although cyanobacteria are called blue-green algae<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>they are actually bacteria<\/strong>, and are part of the bacteria kingdom, Monera. The \u201cblue\u201d in the common name refers to the fact that they need to live in water, and \u201cgreen algae\u201d refers to their photosynthetic abilities, like green algae.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"fungi\"><strong>Fungi<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fungi are a diverse group of organisms that are in their own&nbsp;<strong>kingdom (Fungi)<\/strong>, separate from plants.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fungi is a&nbsp;<strong>Eukaryotic organism<\/strong>&nbsp;that includes micro-organism such as yeast, moulds and mashrooms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fungi&nbsp;<strong>do not contain chlorophyll or any other means of producing their own food so they rely on other organisms for nutrition<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fungi are widely known for their role in the&nbsp;<strong>decomposition of organic matter<\/strong>. They are also necessary for the survival of the ecosystem around them, such as partnering with plants and trees for nutrients and survival.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lichens are another such partnership for fungi to gain nutrients from another organism. The&nbsp;<strong>algal partner photosynthesizes and provides food for the fungus<\/strong>, so it can grow and spread.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"bacteria\"><strong>Bacteria<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bacteria are&nbsp;<strong>microscopic, single-celled organisms<\/strong>&nbsp;that exist in their millions, in every environment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They constitute a large domain of&nbsp;<strong>prokaryotic microorganisms<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bacteria were among the&nbsp;<strong>first life forms to appear on Earth<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mosses\"><strong>Mosses&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mosses are a&nbsp;<strong>phylum of non-vascular plants.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They produce&nbsp;<strong>spores&nbsp;<\/strong>for reproduction instead of seeds and don\u2019t grow flower, wood or true roots.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Answer:&nbsp;(b) Algae and fungi Lichens Algae Fungi Bacteria Mosses&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[44],"years":[59],"class_list":["post-1491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc","category-prelims","tag-science-and-tech","years-59"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"UPSC"},{"value":3,"label":"Prelims"}],"post_tag":[{"value":44,"label":"Science and Tech"}],"years":[{"value":59,"label":"2014"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"LotusArise","author_link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/author\/team-lotusarise"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":1,"name":"UPSC","slug":"upsc","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1269,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":1269,"category_description":"","cat_name":"UPSC","category_nicename":"upsc","category_parent":0},{"term_id":3,"name":"Prelims","slug":"prelims","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":1,"count":1251,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":1251,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Prelims","category_nicename":"prelims","category_parent":1}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":44,"name":"Science and Tech","slug":"science-and-tech","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":44,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":167,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1491"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491\/revisions\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1491"},{"taxonomy":"years","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/years?post=1491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}