Five species of Schaereria Körb. are known to occur in Australia (including Tasmania). The new species S. australis Kantvilas is described from alpine Tasmania and New South Wales; it is characterized by a thallus lacking lichen substances, apothecia with only brown pigments, and ellipsoid, uniseriate ascospores, 10−17 × 6−9 μm. Also treated are: S. bullata Kantvilas, endemic to Tasmania; S. dolodes (Nyl. ex Hasse) Schmull & T. Sprib., first described from North America and recorded here for the first time from the Southern Hemisphere (Tasmania); the bipolar S. fuscocinerea (Nyl.) Clauzade & Cl. Roux and the Australian endemic S. xerophila Rambold & H. Mayrhofer, both recorded for the first time from Tasmania. The species are illustrated and an identification key is provided.

To facilitate population-genetic studies, we developed simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and a molecular species identification assay for Peltigera membranacea (Ascomycota, Peltigerales), a common ground-dwelling lichen of forest and tundra ecosystems. Additional markers were developed for its Nostoc photobiont. Twenty-one fungal markers for P. membranacea were found to be polymorphic, with the number of alleles ranging from 3–21. Nei's unbiased gene diversity ranged from 0.588 to 0.640 in four significantly structured (FST = 0.059) mycobiont populations. For the Nostoc photobiont, 14 polymorphic SSR were developed, yielding 4–14 alleles each, with gene diversity ranging from 0.062 to 0.771 in four populations showing substantial population structure (FST = 0.278). The new markers developed are suitable for population genetic studies of Peltigera membranacea and of its cyanobiont, and at the same time allowed us to distinguish 98.5% of P. membranacea specimens from morphologically similar species of Peltigera.

Using an ITS mutation rate as calibration reference, a three-locus timetree was generated for the genus Lobaria and its most important clades. The timetree resolved most clades with strong support and gave an estimate of the diversification time for Lobaria during the early Oligocene. A fossil impression from a 12–24 million-year-old Miocene deposit is hypothesized here to belong to an ancestral Lobaria species. Additionally, the age estimate indicates that the paleoclimate and the closing or opening of the Bering Strait played a major role in shaping the current distribution of most Lobaria species. It is hypothesized that the Bering land bridge acted as a major highway during warm-temperate climate periods, but as a barrier during Arctic climate times.

Documented evidence of fungi associated with Mesozoic ferns is exceedingly rare. Three different types of fungal remains occur in a portion of a small, permineralised fern stem of uncertain systematic affinities from the Triassic of Germany. Exquisite preservation of all internal tissues made it possible to map the spatial distribution of the fungi in several longitudinal and transverse sections. Narrow, intracellular hyphae extend through the entire cortex, while wide hyphae are concentrated in the cortical intercellular system adjacent to the stele and leaf traces. Hyphal swellings occur in the phloem and adjacent cortex, while moniliform hyphae (or chains of conidia) are present exclusively in parenchyma adjacent to the stele. No host response is recognisable, but host tissue preservation suggests that the fern was alive during fungal colonisation. The highest concentration of fungal remains occurs close to the stele and leaf traces, suggesting that the fungi either utilised the vascular tissues as an infection/colonisation pathway or extracted nutrients from these tissues. This study presents the first depiction of fungal distribution throughout a larger portion of a fossil plant. Although distribution maps are useful tools in assessing fungal associations in relatively small, fossil plants, preparing similar maps for larger and more complex fossils would certainly be difficult and extremely arduous.

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.

Genetic variability and its relationship to substratum preferences within and among populations of the sorediate foliose lichen Hypogymnia physodes was investigated using sequence variation in the complete nrDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. A few samples of the putatively closely related, sorediate, H. tubulosa were also included. Samples were collected from each tree species in study sites in Estonia, Finland, and Sweden. In total, DNA sequences from 104 individuals of H. physodes and 16 of H. tubulosa were obtained. A group 1 intron situated at the end of the small subunit (SSU) of the nrDNA was detected in both species. Within-species variability was observed in both species: fifteen haplotypes were found for H. physodes and seven for H. tubulosa for the combined alignment of the intron and the ITS. Possible recombination within the total gene fragment was detected and hence the different regions (intron, ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2) were analysed separately. They show a different degree of variability both between each other and between the species. The number of haplotypes of H. physodes in the four regions are 5, 5, 1, and 5 and for H. tubulosa 5, 2, 1 and 2, respectively. A statistical parsimony estimation resulted in two unconnected networks; one containing all the samples of H. physodes and one containing all H. tubulosa samples. It was not possible to show different potentials of the different haplotypes for establishment on different substrata as the network of H. physodes indicates recombination within the ITS region which may be frequent enough to make this primarily clonally reproducing species to behave like a sexual species.

The new genus Atla forms a well-supported clade in a molecular phylogeny based on the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and LSU regions of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. The genus has a crustose thallus, a hamathecium at maturity without hyphal elements except for pseudoparaphyses remaining at the ostiolum, and large, muriform spores. Atla wheldonii was previously referred to Polyblastia. Three new species, A. alpina (the type of the new genus), A. palicei and A. praetermissa, are included in the genus and described here as new to science. They were found on calcareous rocks and soil in Northern Scandinavia; A. alpina also occurs in Central Europe, and A. wheldonii likewise in Central Europe, the Pyrenées and in the British Isles. An identification key to the species and a revision of the genus are also provided.

In order to examine genetic variation and population structure of the widespread lichen-forming ascomycete Xanthoria parietina from similar habitats, but different sites in Scandinavia, we investigated seven populations in Scania, southernmost Sweden, and compared the results with a corresponding study on Storfosna, central Norway. Sequence variations of the nuclear ribosomal DNA were used as molecular markers, for both a part of the IGS region and the complete ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region. The amount of genetic variability observed was comparable in the two investigations. Divergence between populations in different habitats found in the previous study was also present in this study. Xanthoria parietina is genetically differentiated between habitats with no evidence of restricted gene flow between populations in the same habitat at the present spatial scale, at least at sites along the coast of Scandinavia. Differentiation between habitats is considerable at both study sites, which we attribute to restricted gene flow between habitats, i.e. habitat isolation.

Two new lichenicolous ascomycetes, Corticifraga santessonii and C. chugachiana, are described from Lobaria and Nephroma species. The new species are readily distinguished by narrow ascospores and are known from the USA, Canada and Russia. A Table with the distinguishing characteristics of all known Corticifraga species is presented.

Eighteen species in the lichen genera Acanthothecis Clem. and Fissurina Fée (Graphidaceae) with colourless, trans-septate ascospores are recorded from India. Eight new species, namely Acanthothecis collateralis, Fissurina capsulata, F. coarctata, F. karnatakensis, F. khasiana, F. longiramea, F. taeniocarpoides and F. verrucosa, and a new variety, F. dumastioides var. salazinica, are described. Fissurina saxicola ad int., clearly distinguished from the other species is recorded, but is not formally described as new to science as the material is scanty. Acanthothecis consocians, F. globulifica, F. insidiosa and F. rugosa are reported for the first time from India. A key for the trans-septate species of Acanthothecis and Fissurina in India is provided.

In this investigation we utilized parsimony and Bayesian analyses of mtSSU and nuLSU rDNA sequence datasets to show that the lichenized ascomycete genera Leptochidium and Polychidium (formerly classified in Placynthiaceae) form a well-supported monophyletic group with Massalongia (Peltigerales, Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota). This group is also supported by morphological characteristics (ascus type, ascoma ontogeny and anatomy), but does not have a formal name on any level. We describe it here as the family Massalongiaceae. Massalongiaceae is related to a group consisting of Peltigeraceae-Nephromataceae, and Lobariaceae, but the detailed relationships within this group are not resolved with convincing support.

The new species, Polysporina frigida Kantvilas & Seppelt is described and illustrated. It is the first record of this genus from the Antarctic continent.

Descriptions are provided for two new species, Mycomicrothelia lateralis Sipman from Norfolk Island and M. triangularis Aptroot from Puerto Rico, both characterized by lateral ostioles and uniseriate ascospores. Based on the examination of additional fresh material, the genus Ornatopyrenis is included in Mycomicrothelia and the new combination Mycomicrothelia queenslandica (Müll. Arg.) Sipman & Aptroot is made. Ornatopyrenis muriformis Aptroot is proposed as a synonym of M. decipiens (Müll. Arg.) R. C. Harris.

In a preliminary study of stable and declining beds of Spartina anglica five sporulating ascomycetes were identified. A comparison between stable and declining Spartina beds demonstrated that there was no overall difference in the fungal species found, and no significant difference between the numbers of isolates from the different beds except that Lulworthia sp. was more prominent in the stable beds. The vertical distribution of species of ascomycetes within Spartina anglica plants, from root to leaf-tip, is related to the status of the fungus as either an obligate or facultative marine fungus. The significance of these findings is discussed.

A new isidiate species in the genus Graphis Adans. (sensu Staiger 2002), Graphis isidiza (Graphidaceae, ascomycetes) is described from the Western Ghats of India.

During the latest part of the Quaternary period (approximately from 11,000 to 50,000 years ago), a variety of large animals went extinct across extensive areas of the planet (Martin & Klein, 1984; MacPhee, 1999). Although a widespread phenomenon, late Quaternary extinctions of the so-called ‘megafauna’ varied greatly in intensity and timing around the world. So, while Europe, Asia, and Africa experienced only limited losses toward the end of the Pleistocene, the Americas, Australia, Madagascar and many Oceanic islands suffered dramatic extinctions. In North America, more than two-thirds of the mammals weighing more than 44 kg disappeared about 11,000 years ago (Alroy, 2001). Nearly at the same time, in South America most of the species of medium to large mammals also vanished. Australia witnessed an even more catastrophic continent-wide die-off. Some 23 of the 24 genera of Australian land vertebrates with a body mass of 45 to 1000 kilograms had died out by around 46,000 years ago (Roberts et al., 2001). The casualties of this ‘marvellous fact’, as the English naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace called it over a century ago (Wallace, 1876), bear exotic names that evoke fantastic images. Among them were fearsome claw-footed kangaroos that weighed 300 kilograms and the giant marsupial equivalents of rhinoceros and leopard in Australia. Somewhat later in North America, sabre-toothed cats, giant bisons, mammoths, mastodons, and also less well known mammals like the short-faced bear and the giant beaver went extinct. The whopping half-ton elephant birds, the heaviest birds ever known, giant lemurs and other strange beasts disappeared from the island of Madagascar within the last millennium (Burney, 1999).

Lichenostigma radicans Calat. & Barreno, a lichenicolous fungus growing on vagrant Aspicilia species, is described as new to science from Spain. It is superficially similar to L. maureri, with cushion-like ascomata, but differing mainly by its ascomata connected at their base to immersed, brown, vegetative hyphae. Comments on the variability of iodine reactions of asci and ascospore walls, and on an associated conidial fungus with small bacilliform conidia, are given for L. maureri.

This article reviews the current state of knowledge about the evolutionary history of lichenized ascomycetes within an integrated system of all ascomycetes. Substantial progress has been made since molecular techniques were applied to unravel evolutionary relationships. Molecular approaches detect how often the lichen symbiosis arose, test current classification concepts, and find the proper placement for species with uncertain relationships. Uncertainties in some evolutionary hypotheses still need to be resolved by studying further genes. The currently available phylogenetic trees show a number of convergent phenotypic developments in lichenized ascomycetes. The current classification of ascomycetes is reviewed in the light of recent molecular data.

The mycobionts of Piceirhiza bicolorata, a distinct ectomycorrhizal morphotype of conifers and hardwoods, have been identified by internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence comparison of the fungi involved. Samples of Piceirhiza bicolorata were obtained from seedlings of Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris, Betula pubescens, Populus tremula, Quercus robur and Salix phylicifolia. In an initial screening, the fungus amplified with universal ITS primers from ectomycorrhizal root samples of P. bicolorata shared approx. 95% ITS1 sequence identity with the ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Hymenoscyphus ericae. A total of 77 out of 88 (= 87.5%) DNA samples (i.e. 52/56 root samples and 25/32 axenic culture isolates) of P. bicolorata were successfully amplified with a taxon-selective primer designed for exclusive amplification of H. ericae-like strains. Forty-seven amplicons were sequenced, yielding 15 different ITS1 genotypes that differed by 1–14 nucleotide character state changes. An inferred ITS1 phylogeny (maximum parsimony) showed that a single major evolutionary lineage of P. bicolorata embraced the historically important H. ericae isolates in a 100% bootstrap-supported clade. The 15 P. bicolorata genotypes were positioned in four subclades, roughly corresponding to morphological groups of P. bicolorata isolates observed in axenic culture. Culture isolates of H. ericae and P. bicolorata share some common morphological features including slow, dense growth and formation of short aerial hyphal aggregates. Our results suggest that members of the H. ericae aggregate participate in the formation of the distinct ectomycorrhizal morphotype P. bicolorata. This opposes the widely accepted discrimination of ericoid and ectomycorrhizal mycobionts of the boreal forest ecosystem. The high prevalence of the P. bicolorata morphotype on pioneer seedlings of P. sylvestris, B. pubescens and S. phylicifolia at a copper mine spoil was remarkable. Hypotheses of possible nutrient mobilization and detoxification potentials of the fungal associates of P. bicolorata are discussed. We hypothesize that ericoid and ectomycorrhizal plants may share mycobionts of the H. ericae aggregate.