Verrucaria canella, V. fuscella and V. polysticta occur in Great Britain and Ireland; these species have been widely confused, and have often incorrectly been called V. glaucina. Similar specimens parasitic on Aspicilia caesiocinerea may belong to an additional, undescribed species. A lectotype is selected for V. fuscella.

The new lichenicolous species Lichenostigma supertegentis is described from Sweden and Norway where it grows on thalli and apothecia of Aspicilia supertegens. The ecology and distribution of the new species are discussed and a distribution map is provided. The concept of Lichenostigma is enlarged to accommodate fungi producing macroconidia.

Bilimbia [Rheede] Rchb. (Oxalidaceae) is not validly published, whereby Bilimbia De Not. (Lichenes) is not a later homonym and must replace Myxobilimbia Hafellner. In an Appendix, the nomenclatural implications are acted upon: Bilimbia De Not. is re-instated and the new combination Bilimbia lobulata (Sommerf.) Hafellner & Coppins is made.

Leptogium quercicola (Collemataceae), a new corticolous species, is described from central and south-eastern Spain. It is closely related to L. lichenoides, but differs in the development of dense fruticolous cushions, with lobes narrower than the smallest known forms of L. lichenoides. Moreover, spore length and width of the two taxa are significantly different. In addition, the two species differ ecologically; L. quercicola growing directly on bark of Quercus spp., while L. lichenoides colonizes rocks, soil and bark but always among mosses.

A new lichenicolous fungus Buelliella lecanorae Suija & Alstrup, found on epiphytic Lecanora, is described from Estonia.

In newly collected material from high altitudes in China and India three new species in the genus Fuscopannaria have been discovered: F. albomaculata, F. granulifera and F. hirsuta, all with unusual characters for the genus. The first one has remarkable tube-like structures exposing the white medulla above, the thallus thus appearing to be white-dotted. The second contains green algae, and the last one is the first regularly hairy species to be discovered in the genus.

A new corticolous species belonging to the lichen family Pertusariaceae, Pertusaria grassiae Messuti & A.W. Archer, is described from Tucumán Province, Argentina. It is characterized by disciform apothecia covered by a white to greyish white pruina, single-spored asci, ellipsoid and double-walled ascospores and the presence of atranorin.

The taxonomic position of the Neuropogon group, as inferred from the morphology of representative species of the group and ITS sequences from Usnea antarctica and U. sphacelata, is discussed. Morphological observations revealed that the Neuropogon group does not have annular-pseudocyphellae, which are characteristic of the subgenus Dolichousnea, or a fistulose axis, which is characteristic of the subgenus Eumitria. In addition, the hypothecium of Neuropogon is thin, and the iodine reaction in the axis is negative. These features are consistent with those of the subgenus Usnea. Within the subgenus Usnea, Neuropogon is morphologically distinct from sections Usnea and Ceratinae (i.e. having a sphacelata-type cortex, black pigmentation of the upper thallus and a dark brown apothecial disc). The molecular data suggest that U. antarctica and U. sphacelata are members of the subgenus Usnea and are less closely related to subgenera Dolichousnea and Eumitria. The morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis suggest that the Neuropogon group is a member of the subgenus Usnea at the level of a section, and the appropriate name for this group is subgenus Usnea section Neuropogon (Nees & Flot.) Mont.

The Antarctic endemics Umbilicariakappenii and U. antarctica are morphologically close, but mainly distinguished by their reproductive strategies. Umbilicaria antarctica propagates by means of thalloconidia. Umbilicaria kappenii lacks thalloconidia, but exhibits a variety of asexual propagules: soredia, adventive lobes and thallyles. We have now employed molecular data from three gene regions to examine the phylogenetic relationships of these two morphotypes. The phylogeny of ten samples and four outgroup taxa (Umbilicaria decussata, U. krascheninnikovii, U. nylanderiana, U. umbilicarioides) was reconstructed using Bayesian and maximum parsimony analyses of a combined data set of nuclear ITS, nuclear LSU rDNA and mitochondrial LSU rDNA sequences. Forty two new partial sequences of 14 specimens were generated. Our results indicate that all samples morphologically referred to U. antarctica and U. kappenii form a monophyletic group. A topology separating the two morphotypes as phylogenetic species is significantly rejected with the data set. It is proposed to place U. kappenii into synonymy with U. antarctica.

Canopy lichen abundance was assessed by size class on regenerating hemlocks, comparing trees of similar size and age (c. 120–140 yrs) growing in the understorey of old-growth cedar-hemlock stands with those growing in adjacent even-aged hemlock stands (natural origin patches c. 1–3 ha in size). Five chlorolichen taxa were associated with old-growth understorey trees: Cavernularia hultenii, Hypogymnia vitatta, Parmelia hygrophila, Platismatia norvegica, and Usnea spp. Lobaria pulmonaria was the most abundant cyanolichen on regenerating hemlock in the old-growth forest stands, particularly in lower canopy (under 12 m) exposures. However, other cyanolichen taxa such as Nephroma helveticum, Sticta fulginosa, and Pseudocyphellaria anomala, reached their greatest abundance at mid-canopy (12–24 m) positions. Smaller cyanolichen thalli (<9 cm2) were abundant on regenerating hemlocks across all canopy positions in the old-growth forest, raising the question as to whether or not cyanolichen thalli in mid- to upper-canopy environments represented long-established individuals facing severe growth constraints, or were simply thalli that had experienced higher rates of fragmentation, and thus did not achieve larger sizes. In comparison, cyanolichens of all taxa were essentially absent from the small-patch even-aged forest stands. Given that dispersal of propagules was not likely a major limiting factor, these 120–140 year old even-age stands may not yet have attained sufficient old-growth characteristics (especially canopy microclimate and canopy throughflow enrichment) to support cyanolichen growth. These findings have major conservation biology implications for wet interior cedar-hemlock forests in British Columbia, where forest harvesting is creating a mosaic of even-aged stands, whose projected age at the time of next harvest (rotation age) will be 120 years or less.

The spatial pattern of lichen species richness was analyzed in a forest ecosystem impacted for 50 years by industrial emissions from a steelworks. Geostatistical tools were used to characterize the spatial pattern of the number of lichen species and multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing it. Spatial analysis showed high variation of lichen species richness on a local scale, caused by patchiness of natural habitat factors (species composition of trees, their age, shade, etc.). On a large spatial scale, species richness differentiated the western from the eastern part of the forest. The western part, closer to the sources of pollution, had fewer species (average 6–10 per locality) than the eastern part (10–15 per locality). Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between the species richness of lichens and several environmental variables: input of ions with bulk precipitation (SO42−, NO−3, Cl−, Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe3+, Zn3+, Pb2+, Cd2+), distance to forest edge, tree stand age, and number of species per locality. Regression analysis was preceded by factor analysis for the input of ions to obtain uncorrelated variables. Regression explained 53% of the variation of lichen species richness. Highly significant predictor variables were the factor connected with the input of pollutants (Fe3+, Zn2+) emitted by the steelworks (negative effect) and the number of trees per locality (positive effect). Species richness was also affected by the age structure of the tree stand; more species were recorded in old forests.

The genus Caloplaca is taxonomically difficult. Many species are characterized by a combination of morphological traits, and there are only a few useful microscopic characters. The secondary chemistry is rather uniform and of little taxonomic value, notwithstanding the usually bright pigmentation.

An interesting calicioid lichen has been collected as a consequence of the study that our research group is developing in the Iberian meridional beech forests. One of these is the forest Natural Reserve “Chaparral de Montejo” (Madrid Province), which represents one of the southern biogeographic limits of Fagus sylvatica in the Iberian Peninsula. The geological substratum is Silurian clayey slate. It is located in the Supramediterranean belt of central Spain. Sclerophora peronella has been found for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula and for the third time in southern Europe. The previous records in S Europe are from Calabria (Italy) by Puntillo (1992) and from Corse (France) by Vězda (Lich. Sel. Exs. 828).