Based on morphometric and molecular methods, the taxonomy of the infraspecific taxa of Fuscidea cyathoides (Ach.) V. Wirth & Vězda, var. corticola (Fr.) Kalb and var. sorediata (H. Magn.) Poelt, has been assessed. No formal taxonomic recognition should be attributed to the morphological and ecological variation. Accordingly, var. corticola and var. sorediata are synonymized with F. cyathoides var. cyathoides. New synonyms at the specific level are Fuscidea fagicola (Zschacke) Hafellner & Türk and F. stiriaca (A. Massal.) Hafellner.

Bactrospora dryina is an epiphytic lichen-forming fungus specifically related to old-growth floodplain forests, which have dramatically declined in Europe over the past centuries. In order to promote conservation management of such forest remnants, we aimed to study population genetics of this rare and threatened lichen. The newly developed 16 microsatellite markers are specific for the mycobiont of B. dryina and reliably amplify either single fruiting bodies or a sterile thallus. This allows the use of these markers for the identification of sterile crusts and for quantification of recent dispersal of the species into restored habitats. We tested the markers in 264 samples collected from 10 pedunculate oak trees growing in three localities in north-eastern Switzerland. All markers were polymorphic and showed two to five alleles per locus, and unbiased gene diversity varied from 0·06 to 0·71 over three populations. The relatively low number of alleles in B. dryina is possibly the consequence of colonization of secondary habitats created by forest management. Although oaks were largely covered with a single, continuous B. dryina colony, the microsatellite markers identified single or complex multi-genotype colonizations per tree. For future population genetic studies, we recommend collection of 5–15 specimens from one tree which would enable detection of 60–80% of the multilocus genotypes present. Hierarchical AMOVA revealed high variation (70%) on host trees, and a relatively high differentiation (12%) among the three locations in NE Switzerland indicated limited gene flow between those regions. Thus, the newly developed markers showed their applicability in population genetics at different spatial scales. They will play an important role in monitoring habitat restoration for the conservation of B. dryina and associated forests and riverscapes.

The genetic diversity within the foliose form of Ricasolia amplissima from Europe and North America was studied using molecular phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear ITS and RPB2, and mitochondrial SSU. Boundaries between closely related species were also examined using morphological and chemical patterns. Four species of the recently reinstated lichen genus Ricasolia De Not. were phylogenetically verified which necessitated a new combination, Ricasolia japonica (Asah.) Cornejo. Analyses suggest that the generic type taxon R. amplissima (Scop.) De Not. belongs to a species complex that shows two evolutionary centres, one in Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor and the Macaronesian Islands, the other from north-western North America on exposed shores of mainly forested marine islands in south-eastern Alaska, where it shows strong habitat specificity. The Alaskan lineage is very similar to the European lineage but it differs by the lack of scrobiculin and other chemical substances. It is described here as R. amplissima subsp. sheiyi Derr & Dillman.

The crustose lichen biota of coastal rocks in South Brazil was investigated. Several distinct lichen zones were found: a littoral black zone, a supralittoral yellow zone and a grey zone with species restricted to either exposed granite, dry overhangs, damp overhangs or places subjected to run-off. Dendrographa austrosorediata is newly described, with a crustose, flat to partly curling up or blister-like thallus which is much dissected, whitish grey, 0·1–0·2 mm thick; surface minutely densely cracked, rimose, with cracks intersecting at each c. 0·1 mm; soredia whitish to bluish grey but asymmetrically blackened in the direction facing the light, originating on the thallus surface, in initially discrete convex soralia. The phylogenetic position of this new species was traced by molecular methods. Stigmidium marinum, generally regarded as a lichenicolous fungus, was found as a free-living lichen, thousands of kilometres away from the nearest known occurrence of any purported host.

Recent field trips to Amapá and the adjacent states of Amazonas and Pará uncovered unknown lichen species with unexpected relationships. The following new species of Arthoniales are described, mainly from Amapá in North Brazil: Neosergipea hyphosa, a corticolous species with an olive-green thallus, central part verrucose, marginal zone of 5–10 mm wide consisting of procumbent branching rhizohyphae, surrounded by a pinkish brown hyphal prothallus c. 3 mm wide into which the rhizohyphae protrude, globose ascomata, c. 0·1 mm diam., arranged in stromatoid groups of 5–15, with hyaline walls, without ascospores; Neosergipea septoconidiata, a corticolous species with a bluish grey thallus and bright orange, mostly conical pycnidia with fluffy hyphal surface, hyaline conidia, 3–6-septate, filiform, 12–23×1·5–2·0 μm, with rounded ends; Nyungwea pycnidiata, from a termite nest on a tree, with abundant pycnidia that are whitish, papillate, smooth, c. 0·1–0·2 mm diam., c. 0·2–0·4 mm high, at the base covered by thallus, and hyaline conidia that are simple, ellipsoid, 2·5–4·0×1·5–2·0 μm; and Opegrapha ramisorediata, a corticolous species with a thallus with initially rounded soralia that soon cover the complete thallus with a layer of fine yellowish green branched soredia, and containing gyrophoric acid. Apothecia are not known from any of these species but sequencing elucidated their generic affiliation. The genera Neosergipea and Nyungwea were previously monotypic and Nyungwea was known only from Africa. Nyungwea anguinella (Nyl.) Aptroot comb. nov. is a further new species in the latter genus, and through these two extra species we now know about the morphology of the pycnidia and apothecia of Nyungwea, which were unknown in the type species (a sterile crust).

Rinodina is a widespread, polyphyletic genus of crustose Physciaceae with c. 300 species worldwide. A major missing link in understanding its global biogeography has been eastern Asia where the genus has never been systematically revised. Here we review specimen and literature records for Rinodina for north-eastern Asia (Russian Far East, Japan and the Korean Peninsula) and recognize 43 species. We describe two species, R. hypobadia and R. orientalis, as new to science. Rinodina hypobadia is distinguished by its pigmented hypothecium, Dirinaria-type ascospores and pannarin in both thallus and epihymenium. Rinodina orientalis is characterized by its erumpent apothecia that remain broadly attached, with discs sometimes becoming convex and excluding the thalline margins, ascospores belonging to the Physcia-type and secondary metabolites absent. Nine other species are reported from the region for the first time. These include R. dolichospora, R. freyi, R. metaboliza, R. sicula, R. subminuta and R. willeyi. Of particular biogeographical interest are three additional new records that have western North American–eastern Asian distributions: the corticolous species R. endospora, R. macrospora and R. megistospora. Six species have the better known eastern North American–eastern Asian distributions: R. ascociscana (syn. R. akagiensis, R. melancholica), R. buckii, R. chrysidiata, R. subminuta, R. tenuis (syn. R. adirondackii) and R. willeyi, and two have eastern North American–eastern Asian–European distributions: R. excrescens and R. moziana (syn. R. destituta, R. vezdae). Our study begins to close one of the largest gaps in our knowledge of circumboreal species distributions in Rinodina and, together with previous studies in North America and Europe, provides new insights into circumboreal crustose lichen biogeography. Rinodina cinereovirens (syn. R. turfacea var. cinereovirens) is also reported as new to North America.

We assessed the taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of Hawaiian species of the neotropical genus Lobariella. A single species was previously reported from the archipelago, the widespread neotropical L. crenulata. We targeted three loci of the mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal rDNA gene cistron (mtSSU, nuLSU, ITS) and also performed a molecular clock analysis. Our results show that L. crenulata s. str. is seemingly present in the archipelago based on older herbarium collections. However, Hawaiian Lobariella includes three additional, presumably endemic, species unrelated to L. crenulata and new to science: L. flynniana Lücking, Moncada & C. W. Sm., with richly branched marginal phyllidia giving the thallus a fruticose appearance; L. robusta Lücking, Moncada & C. W. Sm., with a rather thick thallus and abundant, large, laminal phyllidia; and L. sandwicensis Lücking, Moncada & C. W. Sm., with a delicate thallus producing apothecia. Lobariella flynniana represents a novel morphotype within the genus, thus far known only from Hawaii. All three species are very closely related, forming a well-supported, monophyletic clade in spite of their morphological differences, suggesting local micro-radiation. Molecular clock analysis indicates that this clade colonized the islands between 1–8 mya and diverged between 0–2 mya. We interpret recent colonization as one of the main reasons why this clade has not diversified further.