science

The Lichenologist

The Lichenologist is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Lichenologist rather than just read about it. In short: The Lichenologist is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal specialising in lichenology, including taxonomy, systematics, ecology, biogeography, and conservation. It is published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Lichen Society and the editors-in-chief are Christopher J.

Key takeaways

The Lichenologist belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Lichenologist to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Lichenologist from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Lichenologist is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal specialising in lichenology, including taxonomy, systematics, ecology, biogeography, and conservation. It is published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Lichen Society and the editors-in-chief are Christopher J. Ellis (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) and Leena Myllys (Finnish Museum of Natural History).

History The journal was established in November 1958. It followed the founding of the British Lichen Society on 1 February 1958. The journal was founded as a publication of the British Lichen Society, with Peter Wilfred James as editor-in-chief. In its early years, the journal was modest in scope, comprising approximately fifty pages annually. The first two volumes were cyclostyled with text typed by Swinscow's secretary. In its first editorial, the primary objectives of the journal were outlined, which focussed on both the enhancement of lichenological study and the importance of nature conservation. The journal sought to address the scarcity of contemporary literature on British lichen taxonomy by providing detailed articles to assist botanists in identifying local species. Additionally, it aimed to foster contributions on the distribution and ecology of lichens in Britain, areas that were then under-explored. Emphasising the balance between research and the ecological impact of specimen collection, the journal advocated for careful, responsible study practices to avoid harming these slow-growing organisms. In its early years, the journal experimented with different cover designs before settling on a mint green cover in 1959, which remained in use until 2000. The journal also transitioned from irregularly published volumes to annual volumes, with volume 6 in 1974 marking the start of consecutively numbered volumes synchronised with calendar years. Despite being founded in 1958, the journal reached its fiftieth volume only in 2018, as the early volumes spanned multiple years each. Over the decades, the journal grew in size, scope, and international significance. For a considerable period, it was the only scientific journal in the world dedicated entirely to lichens, making it an essential publication for research in the field. As it expanded, it became increasingly respected internationally while remaining the flagship publication of the British Lichen Society. During Crittenden's tenure as senior editor from 2000 to 2019, the journal underwent several significant changes that modernised and enhanced the journal's impact. In 2001, Crittenden initiated a comprehensive overhaul of the journal's layout and printing, introducing a larger page size and a new cover design that departed from the long-standing mint green cover used since 1959. This visual refresh coincided with efforts to broaden the journal's content and appeal. Crittenden also introduced thematic issues focusing on specific topics within lichenology, which helped to consolidate research in particular areas and increase reader engagement. He also encouraged the submission of longer, more comprehensive papers, allowing for more in-depth treatments of complex subjects. This shift towards more substantial contributions was reflected in an increase in the average number of pages per paper over the years. Under Crittenden's leadership, the journal also adapted to changes in academic publishing practices and implemented effective electronic publication. In response to evolving nomenclatural requirements, the obligate registration of new fungal names was introduced, ensuring that taxonomic contributions met the latest standards in the field. Perhaps one of the most notable changes came in 2016 when Crittenden implemented a policy to reject "single naked species descriptions". This decision encouraged authors to contextualise new species descriptions within broader taxonomic or ecological frameworks, thereby increasing the overall impact and usefulness of such contributions. Despite initial concerns, this policy change did not decrease the number of new species described in the journal; instead, it led to more comprehensive taxonomic papers.

Editors-in-chief The following persons are or have been editors-in-chief:

Peter W. James (1958–1977) David L. Hawksworth (1978–1988) Dennis H. Brown (1989–2000) Peter Crittenden (2000–2019) Christopher J. Ellis and Leena Myllys (2020–present)

Abstracting and indexing The journal is abstracted and indexed in:

According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2023 impact factor of 1.6.

References

Cited literature Lücking, Robert (2021). "Peter D. Crittenden: meta-analysis of an exceptional two-decade tenure as senior editor of The Lichenologist, the flagship journal of lichenology". The Lichenologist. 53 (1): 3–19. doi:10.1017/S0024282920000560.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Lichenologist

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Lichenologist claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Lichenologist before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Lichenologist ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Lichenologist

In research: The Lichenologist appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Lichenologist in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Lichenologist is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academic journals established in 1958, Bimonthly journals, English-language journals, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Lichenologist outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Lichenologist in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Lichenologist means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Lichenologist out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Lichenologist in simple terms?

Why does The Lichenologist matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Lichenologist?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Lichenologist.