@pmeisenheimer - Yes, plenty of moss and lichen here!
Not many trees here though @pisum :)
As the Icelandic joke goes…
Q: What should you do if you get lost in an Icelandic forest?
A: Stand up.
But yes, thats another issue… collecting samples and being methodical in keeping the samples… knowing which came from where. Again if theres any recommendations/links for managing that process or how to prepare the mosses for microscopy, would love to hear.
For process on site, I guess just taking a photo then trying to number the different parts of it using an app, then numbering the samples correspondingly. Ideally I want to try and do as much as possible using my phone and iNaturalist app in situ. At the moment just using a 10x loupe with iphone for macro shots, but I have access to a 400x slide microscope add-on for phone too - hoping that will suffice if I start sampling (?) As its portable maybe I could do the microscopy on site even (?) Probably a bit optimistic in Iceland at this time of year though.
Its quite a windy and exposed / public area. Not sure I could really leave flags but good to find an equivalent - maybe I just use existing landscape features for orientation. And I think as you say, focussing on a select number of distinct types of habitat is definitely a good way forward.
Anyway, thanks all! This is helpful to bounce the process off folks.
I´ll give it a go I guess and see what obstacles I encounter.