Dog Lichen

Dog lichen forms large, leafy mats on soil and mossy rocks. Unlike most lichens that partner with green algae, Peltigera partners with cyanobacteria, enabling it to fix atmospheric nitrogen. This transforms it from a simple survivor into an ecosystem engineer - it enriches poor soils, enabling succession by plants that couldn't otherwise establish.

The nitrogen-fixing partnership makes dog lichen a 'catalyst organism' - it transforms its environment in ways that benefit others. The business parallel is companies that build infrastructure others use: payment processors, cloud providers, or standards bodies. They don't just survive; they create conditions for ecosystem growth.