Blue Felt Lichen
Pectenia plumbea
Most Blue Felt Lichens in North America live in Nova Scotia, and this rare species is protected to some degree by the Species at Risk Act as a species of Special Concern. It consists of a lichen body (thallus) formed by a fungus and the cyanobacteria, Nostoc. In 2020, the Blue Felt Lichen was discovered in Prince Edward Island, on a Red Maple tree in a Red Maple swamp in the Miscouche area. The Blue Felt Lichen lives mostly in swampy hardwood habitats where humidity is high and lichens are sheltered from drying winds. High rainfall with cool summers and moderate winters are desireable.
The North American population of Blue Felt Lichen is estimated to be over 8,000 mature thalli and over 99.9% of the North American population occurs in Canada. In Nova Scotia, over 2,600 lichen thalli were counted at 467 extant sites between 1999 and 2021. In New Brunswick, only 35 thalli are known at two sites, but Newfoundland and Labrador has more than 1,500 thalli counted from 50 sites.
The primary threats to the species are air pollution, logging and wood harvesting, habitat shifting and alteration resulting from climate change, and invasive non-native/alien species. A Management Plan is being prepared.