De Zuiderzeedijk bij Nijkerk, een verdwijnend korstmosparadijsje

The Zuiderzee dyke near Nijkerk, a disappearing lichen paradise Old dykes, built centuries ago to protect polders against floods from the former ‘Zuiderzee’ (nowadays IJsselmeer), were sometimes made of materials like basalt and granite boulders. This substate, seldom used in the Netherlands, is host to rare lichen species. The old dyke near Nijkerk is renowned fot its very rare lichens, but their existence is threatened by dyke maintenance and vegetation growth. Periodical removal of the vegetation in combination with the creation of a lichen reserve may preserve their existence in the future.