The new species Miriquidica invadens Hafellner, Obermayer & Tretiach is described and reported from Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, France and Spain. From a morphological point of view the species belongs to the M. griseoatra group, in which it is, so far, the only constantly lichenicolous taxon. Chemically it is characterized by the regular presence of miriquidic acid, stictic acid, and constictic acid (in variable amounts). It starts its ontogenetic life cycle as an obligate youth parasite on Sporastatia, usually S. polyspora.

Morpho-anatomical treatments of other species of the Miriquidica griseoatra group occurring in Europe, based on the examination of type material, are also presented. According to the characters exhibited by the lectotype of Lecidea contigua var. griseoatra Flot., M. griseoatra (Flot.) Hertel & Rambold is the correct name for a montane species with subdivided areoles and immersed, laterally adnate apothecia with a pigmented hypothecium. Specimens exhibiting this set of characters were usually named M. obnubila auct. According to the characters observed on the lectotype of Lecidea (Biatora) obnubila Th. Fr. & Hellb., M. obnubila (Th. Fr. & Hellb.) Hertel & Rambold is a species with sessile apothecia with a hyaline hypothecium. Lecidea subplumbea Anzi does not constitute a heterotypic synonym of Lecidea griseoatra (Flot.) Schaer. but is the legitimate name at the species level for Miriquidica griseoatra sensu auct., and therefore M. subplumbea (Anzi) Cl. Roux is the correct name for that taxon. Lecidea inserena Nyl. is confirmed as a heterotypic synonym of Lecidea subplumbea Anzi. Lecidea plumbea Garov. ex A. Massal. is an earlier heterotypic synonym of Miriquidica limitata Hertel & Rambold and, therefore, the new combination M. plumbea (Garov. ex A. Massal.) Hafellner, Obermayer & Tretiach is introduced.

Lectotypes are designated for Lecidea contigua var. griseoatra Flot., Lecidea inserena Nyl., Lecidea obnubila Th. Fr. & Hellb., Lecidea plumbea Garov. ex A. Massal., and Lecidea subplumbea Anzi. A key to the taxa of the M. griseoatra-group and other Miriquidica taxa with a grey thallus is provided.

Lichen community changes were investigated on trees within a colony of great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) established in a pine forest on the Curonian Spit, western Lithuania. The impact of birds on the forest has altered the number and characteristics of substrata available to lichens. The lowest number of lichen species and occurrences was registered on trees in the most active part of the colony with the highest nest density. Lichen community patterns were most strongly related to P and Ca content in substrata and pH values. Some acidophytic species showed negative correlations, both with long-term and short-term ornithogenic influence. However, three acidophytes (Chaenotheca ferruginea, Lepraria incana, Coenogonium pineti) demonstrated an affinity for the transitional zone and recently occupied trees, and furthermore, C. pineti apparently reacted positively to a short-term ornithogenic influence but negatively to a long-term one. These three lichens, along with algae, were the main, and often the only, components of epiphytic communities on trees at the edge of the colony and apparently indicated the crucial point of the acidophytic community under the increasing load of nutrients. All nitrophytic species showed an affinity for a long-term bird influence and reacted negatively to a short-term influence. Only free-living algae (predominating species Desmococcus olivaceus) showed a clear affinity for trees occupied by bird nests. Hypogymnia physodes was found to be an indicator for early environmental changes following eutrophication. The study also showed that high concentrations of P did not have a mitigating effect on the detrimental impact brought about by increases in N and pH levels, but was possibly equally detrimental to acidophytic lichens.

In this study we examined photobiont identity, diversity and selectivity in the genus Bryoria. We focused on B. fremontii and section Implexae in order to determine whether secondary chemistry is correlated with photobiont identity. DNA from two loci for photobionts and three loci for mycobionts was sequenced for both parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses. A comparison of photobiont and mycobiont phylogenies reveals that most Bryoria species associate exclusively with lineages of the Trebouxia simplex group; only B. smithii was associated with a different photobiont. We conclude that most Bryoria species included in our study are highly selective in their choice of algal partners and that the presence/concentration of different secondary compounds does not correlate with photobiont identity either in section Implexae or in B. fremontii.

Two new genera and four new species of bulbil-forming basidiomycetes are described. Phylogenetic analyses of nuLSU and ITS sequences place them in Cantharellales. A facultative lichenicolous species with yellow to orange-yellow bulbils from South America groups with the type of Burgella and is consequently described as B. lutea. The new species and genus Burgellopsis nivea is introduced for material from Scotland with white bulbils overgrowing saxicolous lichens. An obligate lichenicolous species with particularly large, applanate bulbils developing over Peltigerales in South America could not be placed accurately using ITS sequences and is described as the new species and genus Bulbilla applanata. A European species with brown, facultatively lichenicolous bulbils grouped with Ceratobasidium and Thanatephorus species and is described as the new Ceratobasidium bulbillifaciens.

Five new species of corticolous pyrenocarpous lichens are described from tropical and subtropical forests in the Chaco and Misiones provinces in NE Argentina: Aspidothelium submuriforme with globose, grey ascomata and ascospores mostly 7-septate with 0–2 oblique longitudinal septa, 25–28×8–10 µm; Pyrenula inspersoleucotrypa, characterized by a thallus without pseudocyphellae, aggregated ascomata, an inspersed hamathecium, and ascospores of 17–20×6·5–8·0 µm with diamond-shaped lumina; Pyrenula punctoleucotrypa, which has a thallus with pseudocyphellae, aggregated ascomata in a conical pseudostroma, with fused ostioles, not inspersed hamathecium, and ascospores of 10–12×4–5 µm with rounded lumina; Strigula muriconidiata, containing immersed pycnidia with hyaline, densely muriform, ellipsoid conidia, 90–103×32–35 µm; Trypethelium globolucidum, forming sessile pseudostromata with black and whitish parts, an inspersed hamathecium, ascospores 13–19-septate, (65–)83–97×11·5–14·5 µm, lumina rounded to lentiform and containing lichexanthone.

Deer exclosure is an important management strategy for encouraging woodland regeneration in the presence of high numbers of Cervus elaphus L. This could pose a threat to important saxicolous lichen communities as a result of competition from bryophytes and other vegetation. This investigation compared the bryophyte and lichen communities associated with siliceous rock outcrops and boulders inside and outside a number of exclosures in wet heath vegetation at the Gruinard, Letterewe and Little Gruinard estates in Wester Ross. Species cover data were recorded from 6600·2×0·2 m quadrats, allocated to three different aspects of rocks, from 22 pairs of plots (placed either side of a deer fence) with randomization at each level of this hierarchy. The data were analyzed using linear mixed effects models. Mean lichen cover, diversity and species richness were significantly lower in quadrats on rocks within the exclosures. Mean bryophyte cover was significantly higher in quadrats on rocks inside the deer fence and was shown to have a highly significant negative relationship with total lichen cover. Saxicolous lichen species are particularly affected by the increase in shading and litter accumulation from the surrounding plants and the subsequent growth of bryophytes and heath vegetation on rocks within the exclosures. The results of this study have implications for the use of exclosures at locations where there are important saxicolous lichen communities.

Many lichen species have specific environmental requirements for colonization. Old-growth forests contain microhabitats required by a particular suite of lichens. In Ontario, Canada, old-growth forests are increasingly uncommon and the lichen communities within some of these forests are not well known. To better understand the lichen communities that inhabit old-growth forests in the province, we examined the lichen biota on coarse woody debris (CWD) and trees in a red pine (Pinus resinosa) and a white pine (Pinus strobus) dominated stand in northern Ontario. Lichen diversity was assessed on different forms of CWD and trees in each forest. Lichen diversity did not differ significantly between CWD types in the red pine forest, but was significantly different in the white pine forest. There was no significant difference in lichen diversity amongst different decay stages of CWD in either forest. In both forests, lichen communities on stumps, logs, and snags differed from lichen communities present on trees. A variety of CWD types is important for overall lichen species richness in the red pine forest. Our results demonstrate to land managers that different types of old-growth forests are ecologically unique, even those dominated by tree species in the same genus. Management of an old-growth forest should suit its individual ecology.

Phylogenetic relationships of Stereocaulon with emphasis on the crustose taxa were studied based on nuclear ribosomal ITS1–5.8S–ITS2 and partial beta-tubulin sequences. The placement of four of the six crustose species currently included in the genus has previously been confirmed based on molecular data. It has, however, remained unresolved whether the crustose growth form is a plesiomorphic or apomorphic feature within Stereocaulon, due to contradictory placements of the crustose species in earlier studies. The aim of this study was to clarify the position of the crustose species by including additional data, especially of S. nivale and S. plicatile, which have not been included in previous analyses. The inclusion of S. plicatile in the genus is of particular interest as it is the only species in the genus with submurifrom to muriform ascospores. Altogether 37 specimens representing 31 species of the ingroup, including all the crustose Stereocaulon species, were incorporated in the analyses. Conventional, as well as direct optimization parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses were performed. The results show that the crustose species do not form a monophyletic entity and that the crustose growth form is a plesiomorphic feature within Stereocaulon. The crustose S. nivale and S. plicatile are nested within the genus and their inclusion in Stereocaulon is thereby confirmed. The nested position of S. plicatile indicates that the submuriform to muriform spore type has been gained independently within the genus. Here, S. plicatile is also reported for the first time from Scandinavia.

Five new species of Rimularia, all endemic to Tasmania, are described, discussed and illustrated: Four species are saxicolous: R. albotessellata Kantvilas (containing pannarin): R. aspicilioides Kantvilas (containing 2′-O–methylperlatolic acid and with apothecia with a thalline margin); R. circumgrisea Kantvilas (containing norstictic acid, and with ascospores 8·5–14·0×5·0–6·5 µm); and R. coppinsiana Kantvilas (containing bourgeanic acid and with ascospores 10–19×7–12 µm). The corticolous R. asteriphila Kantvilas lacks lichen substances, contains Sedifolia-grey pigment and has ascospores 10–15×7–10 µm. The widespread R. psephota (Tuck.) Hertel & Rambold, with which several of the new taxa are compared, is also described, based on Tasmanian collections. Several chemical compounds, including bourgeanic acid, pannarin and 2′–O–methylperlatolic acid, are recorded for the genus for the first time. A key to the 12 species currently recorded for Tasmania is presented.

The new species Bacidia termitophila, Coenogonium coppinsii, Fellhanera termitophila, and Micarea termitophila are described from termite nests in rainforest in Rondônia and adjacent Amazonas. Lichens were found on termite mounds on the ground but most of the species were also found on termite nests on trees. This substratum may serve as the most important locality for terricolous lichens in rainforests, and the natural habitat for species known mostly from road banks.

Across much of lowland Britain, lichen diversity has been dramatically affected by the Industrial Revolution, including the lasting legacy of pollution, and changes in land use including the loss, intensification, or abandonment of traditional woodland management. We sampled preserved epiphytes on historical timbers in vernacular buildings to reconstruct pre-industrial lichen species occurrence for a site in Exmoor, south-west England, and used these data to quantify biodiversity loss that appears related to shifts in woodland composition. A total of 33 lichen epiphyte species were collected from pre-industrial structural timbers, and these were compared with modern lichen occurrence. Based on a direct comparison with species presence-absence in the same 10 km target grid-square, c. 31% of species recorded from the pre-industrial landscape had disappeared from the post-1960 landscape. Based on statistical inference comparing historical records with present-day biogeographical distributions, up to 38% of species could be inferred to be lost. This study presents a surprisingly high figure for these losses for a region in Britain usually recognized as having a relatively unpolluted environment and a diverse set of lichens. Of 12 species that were inferred to be lost, nine are predominantly found on nutrient-rich bark, and in our study on Ulmus, the dominant timber in the archaeological samples. We conclude that shifts in phorophyte distribution and abundance may be more important in this region than previously understood.

The phylogenetic position of the genus Geisleria and its type species G. sychnogonioides was reconstructed using sequence data of the mitochondrial small subunit (mtSSU), the nuclear large subunit rDNA (nuLSU) and the first subunit of the RNA polymerase (RPB1). The species, previously classified in Verrucariaceae (Eurotiomycetes) and Strigulaceae (Dothideomycetes), is sister to the type of the genus Absconditella, A. sphagnorum, and nested within the genera Absconditella and Cryptodiscus combined (which also includes the lichenized Bryophagus). At first glance it appears to be a further example of parallel evolution of perithecioid ascomata within Stictidaceae (Lecanoromycetes: Ostropales), besides Ostropa and Robergea, adding to the growing list of perithecioid forms nested within apothecioid lineages in Ostropomycetidae, and specifically Ostropales, with other examples known from Graphidaceae (several genera), Gyalectaceae (Belonia), and Porinaceae. However, revision of type material collected by Nitschke revealed that the species actually develops typical apothecia with a narrowly exposed disc. We conclude that Geisleria sychnogonoides was erroneously considered a pyrenocarpous taxon, because in dry conditions the apothecia are closed and not recognizable as such. The species usually grows on unstable soil and therefore often only develops young, more or less closed ascomata (yet with mature ascospores), and has also been confused with the superficially similar Belonia incarnata, in which the ascomata remain closed even when mature. Geisleriasychnogonioides has so far only been known as a rarely reported pioneer species from loamy soils in Europe and North America. Here it is reported to occur abundantly on lateritic soils in subtropical Brazil, suggesting that it is cosmopolitan and possibly common, but much overlooked.