What partners make up a lichen?

A fungus and algae or cyanobacteria

Lichen Quiz: Fungi and Algae Living Together as One

This lichen quiz looks closely at the crusty, leafy and bushy growths found on rocks, bark and tundra. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on fungal and algal partners, crustose, foliose and fruticose forms, air quality, reindeer lichen, soil formation, slow growth, dyes, litmus and survival in space.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Partners
What partners make up a lichen?
Food
What does the algal partner provide?
Fungus
What does the fungal partner provide?
Crust
What is a crustose lichen?
Leafy
Which lichen form looks leafy?
Bushy
Which form grows bushy or hanging?
Air
Why do scientists study lichens near cities?
Reindeer
Which animals feed on reindeer lichen in winter?
Soil
How do lichens help create soil?
Litmus
Which lab indicator was first made from lichens?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What partners make up a lichen?
Answer: A fungus and algae or cyanobacteria
They live as one body.
Q2: What does the algal partner provide?
Answer: Sugars from photosynthesis
The fungus gives structure.
Q3: What does the fungal partner provide?
Answer: Protection and moisture
It forms most of the body.
Q4: What is a crustose lichen?
Answer: One that forms a flat crust
It sticks tightly to rock.
Q5: Which lichen form looks leafy?
Answer: Foliose
It lifts at the edges.
Q6: Which form grows bushy or hanging?
Answer: Fruticose
Old man's beard is an example.
Q7: Why do scientists study lichens near cities?
Answer: They are sensitive to air pollution
Many vanish where sulfur dioxide is high.
Q8: Which animals feed on reindeer lichen in winter?
Answer: Caribou
It is often called reindeer moss.
Q9: How do lichens help create soil?
Answer: By slowly breaking down rock
They are pioneer organisms.
Q10: Which lab indicator was first made from lichens?
Answer: Litmus
It changes color with acidity.

Lichen Quiz – Fungi and Algae Living Together as One

A lichen is a partnership between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner, usually green algae or cyanobacteria. The partner makes sugars from sunlight, while the fungus provides structure, protection and moisture.

Lichens grow as flat crusts, leafy sheets or bushy, hanging strands, called crustose, foliose and fruticose forms. Many grow only millimeters a year, and some patches are centuries old.

As pioneer organisms they slowly break down rock and start new soil. They are sensitive to air pollution, feed caribou in winter and have been used for dyes and the litmus indicator.

What This Quiz Teaches

Biology fans will enjoy these questions.

What a lichen is
What each partner does
Which forms exist
How lichens help ecosystems
How people use them

Did You Know?

Some lichens survived exposure to outer space in experiments.
Scientists found yeasts in some lichens in 2016.
Lichens can dry out and revive when wet.
They cover a large share of Earth's land surface.
Lichen growth can help date rock surfaces.