Fuscopannaria confusa is a rare lichen restricted to very humid localities in boreal forests. Two Fuscopannaria species, F. ahlneri and F. mediterranea, and Parmeliella parvula are morphologically problematic to distinguish from F. confusa. Our aim with the present study was to evaluate the taxonomic status of F. confusa and thereby clarify its conservation status in Norway. By phylogenetic analysis of multi-locus DNA sequences, we show that F. confusa is genetically well distinguished from F. ahlneri,F. mediterranea, and P. parvula. Fuscopannaria confusa should therefore be treated as a separate species. A species distribution modelling analysis indicates that F. confusa has a slightly continental but potentially wide geographic distribution in Norway. However, suitable localities are continuously being destroyed by clear-cut logging and hydroelectric power development. Because of the decline in suitable habitats, F. confusa should be regarded as highly threatened in Norway and listed as EN (endangered) at the national level.

Lecania chlorotiza and L. falcata, described here as new from Spain/Navarra, the Canary Islands and the Azores, do not belong to Lecania s. str. They belong to a strongly supported clade comprising Bacidia, Bacidina, Scutula and Toninia when examined with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inferences using mtSSU, nuLSU and nuITS sequences. This clade represents the Bacidiaceae and is included in the Ramalinaceae s. lat. Most genera included in that family need further work before a new genus can possibly be described for Lecania chlorotiza and L. falcata.

Plectocarpon dirinariae Ertz & van den Boom is described from Cape Verde from the thallus of saxicolous Dirinariaapplanata. The new species is characterized by convex rounded ascomata not inducing basally constricted galls, non-carbonized sterile stromatic tissue, mainly 4–6-spored asci and 3-septate ascospores. Similar Plectocarpon sp. are discussed.

Morphological and chemical studies of Hypogymnia from the Himalayas revealed one new species, three species new to the region, and a previously unrecognized synonym. Hypogymnia crystallina, distinguished by its rimmed holes in the lobe axils, a pruinose disc, POL+ epihymenium, and distinctive chemistry (zeorin, hypoprotocetraric acid, usnic acid and atranorin) is described as new. Hypogymnia pseudohypotrypa (Asah.) A. Singh is synonymized with H. thomsoniana and a second location is reported for the recently described H. sikkimensis. Hypogymnia bitteri, H. mundata, and H. subarticulata are reported as new to India. A total of 17 species of the genus Hypogymnia are accepted for the Himalayan region of India and Nepal, with one additional species from southern India. A key is given to the species known from this region.

Six new species of the genus Pyrenula are described as new to science from various countries in the tropics. Pyrenula borneensis is described from Borneo, P. endocrocea from the Philippines, P. hawaiiensis from Hawaii, P. rinodinospora from Papua New Guinea, P. rubrojavanica from Java, and P. thailandica from Papua New Guinea, India and Thailand.

A taxonomic study of the genus Porpidia in western China revealed two species hitherto unknown to science, Porpidia squamosa and P. shangrila, along with three new records for the country: P. flavicunda, P. soredizodes and P. thomsonii. Detailed taxonomic descriptions, ecological and chemical characters, and illustrations are provided for the new taxa, and brief taxonomic descriptions provided for the newly reported taxa. A key to all known Chinese Porpidia species is also provided.

In tropical South America (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil), we investigated the diversity of Usnea species with a pigmented, C+ yellow medulla. Four species are treated: the sorediate U. ceratina and U. entoviolata, the latter being new for South America, and the non-sorediate U. cristatula and U. flavorubescens, the latter being newly described here. A detailed description is provided for each species together with an identification key.

Pyrenulaceae is one of the dominant lichen families in the tropics, especially in lowland evergreen forests. Although very species-rich, phylogenetic relationships within Pyrenulaceae have not been extensively studied using molecular data, and its morphology-based generic delimitation remains untested. A recent lichenological survey carried out in the Knuckles Mountain Range in Sri Lanka allowed the first author to collect fresh specimens of different species of Pyrenula, and to investigate the phylogenetic relationships within the family Pyrenulaceae using a multigene analysis (ITS, nuLSU and mtSSU) and a preliminary dataset of 21 taxa. This data shows that the family Pyrenulaceae can be divided into two well-supported groups and suggests that the genus Pyrenula is not monophyletic. Characters usually used for generic classification in this family (ascospore colour and septation, structure of the ascospore locules, secondary chemistry, hamathecium structure, ostiole position) do not correlate with these two groups. However, the presence of pseudocyphellae is restricted to species of Pyrenula from one group.

Ramalina sinensis is a widespread lichen in the Northern Hemisphere with sparse local populations, and its potential to adapt to changing environmental conditions is unknown. The objectives of this study were to determine whether geographical distance reflects fungal phylogenetic patterns, and to infer algal identity and its pattern of geographical distribution. Twenty-three samples of R. sinensis were collected from three geographical regions in Manitoba. The internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA (ITS rDNA) was sequenced from each of the algal and fungal partners, and phylogenetic analyses were performed. Algal haplotypes were estimated and placed on a map of the geographical regions. Although the fungal partner showed no geographical segregation within Manitoba, the divergence of three samples added to the phylogeny from GenBank suggested that a pattern may be evident if broader geographical distances were examined. The photobiont sequence was determined to be most similar to that of Trebouxia impressa and T. potteri, two widely distributed algal species. The algal partner showed no geographical structure with sequence polymorphism or haplotype analyses. The abundance of sexual reproduction might explain widespread occurrence and the absence of geographical segregation of the fungus. This study suggests that the diversity in each of the symbionts of R. sinensis should not be a limiting factor for adaptation.

As part of a comprehensive study on lecideoid lichens in Antarctica, we investigated the photobiont diversity and abundance in 119 specimens of lecideoid lichens from 11 localities in the continental and maritime Antarctic. A phylogeny of these photobiont ITS sequences, including samples from arctic, alpine and temperate lowland regions, reveals the presence of five major Trebouxia clades in Antarctic lecideoid lichens. Two clades are formed by members of the T. jamesii and T. impressa aggregates but for all other clades no close match to any known Trebouxia species could be found in sequence databases. One genetically uniform and well-supported Trebouxia clade was found only in the climatically unique cold desert regions of the Antarctic (preliminarily called Trebouxia sp.URa1), where it is preferentially associated with the highly adapted Antarctic endemic lichen Lecidea cancriformis. Levels of genetic photobiont diversity differ slightly, but insignificantly among ecological regions of the Antarctic and do not decrease towards regions with more unfavourable ecological conditions. The genetic diversity of photobionts varies among mycobiont species. Most pairwise comparisons reveal that these differences are insignificant, probably due to the small sample size for most species. The Antarctic lichens studied here are predominantly not specific for a single photobiont species or lineage, except for Lecidella greenii and L. siplei. These two species are preferably associated with Trebouxia sp. URa2, although in the sampling areas of both species, a pool of several other photobionts is available. Lecidea cancriformis associates with the highest diversity of photobionts followed by L. andersonii.

Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 Extended software and a photographic time series were used to generate accurate and precise measures of change in the area, perimeter and diameter of Rhizocarpon thalli at one, three and seven year intervals. Systematic measurements at a fixed grid of eight diameters per thallus showed a rapid and highly variable diametric growth phase in the smallest thalli (<5 mm2) and slower diametric growth (<0·01 mm2 yr–1) in larger thalli (5–500 mm2). When standardized to an annual rate, the areal growth trend was similar, regardless of the number of years studied. This suggests that the areal and diametric growth of small and mid-sized Rhizocarpon thalli may be insensitive to annual climatic variation and can be accurately characterized by repeat measurements taken over months rather than decades. Unlike diametric growth rate, change in thallus area and perimeter are statistically robust measures of growth in Rhizocarpon thalli. Our mean measurement accuracy was 99%. Measurement precision (reproducibility) was >95% (P>0·05) for thallus area and >96% for thallus perimeter. Our technique is tedious, but on flat rocks it can resolve and accurately measure change in thallus morphology at the sub-millimeter scale, and it can be used with recent and/or historical images.

Although several lichen inventories exist for European ultramafic sites, only four surveys of serpentine lichens for North America have been published to date. Of those, only one has been conducted in California. We conducted a survey of saxicolous lichens from ultramafic rocks (including nephrite, partially serpentinized peridotite, and serpentinite) and non-ultramafic rocks (including silica-carbonate, shale, and sandstone) at the New Idria serpentinite mass, San Benito County, California. X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of the rocks from which the lichens were collected revealed significant elemental differences between the ultramafic and non-ultramafic rocks for 26 of the 32 major and trace elements analyzed. We identified a total of 119 species of lichenized and lichenicolous fungi; 60 species were restricted to ultramafic substrata, 19 to silica-carbonate, and 15 to shale and sandstone. Only 4 species were shared in common. A permutational multivariate analysis of variance (perMANOVA) test revealed significant differences in lichen assemblages between ultramafic and non-ultramafic rocks at the species level but not at the generic level, with species richness (alpha-diversity) significantly greater at the ultramafic sites. We suggest that, although differences in geochemistry clearly influence the lichen community composition, other factors, especially substratum age and the physical characteristics of the rock, are of equal, if not greater, importance. Of all the species collected, six, Buellia aethalea, B. ocellata, Caloplaca oblongula, Rhizocarpon saurinum, Thelocarpon laureri, and Trapelia obtegens, are reported new to California, along with an apparently previously undescribed Solenopsora sp. The rest of the species encountered are relatively frequent in the lichen flora of southern and central California, except Aspicilia praecrenata, a rare California endemic that we collected on both ultramafic and non-ultramafic rocks.