After a discussion of changing generic concepts in the parmelioid lichens, a checklist with the current species placements is presented. Twenty-five genera and 143 species are accepted for Europe, of which 17 genera and 112 species belong to the monophyletic parmelioid clade. The individual countries from which species are reported are provided, along with references to key publications. Synonyms used at species rank in Europe are cross-referenced, and the dates of publication of all names are provided. One new combination is made: Xanthoparmelia pulvinaris (syn. Parmelia pulvinaris, X. pseudohungarica).

Two new species, Mazosia lueckingii Kr. P. Singh & Pinokiyo and Sporopodium awasthianum Kr. P. Singh & Pinokiyo and a new variety, Aspidothelium scutellicarpum R. Lücking var. indicum Kr. P. Singh & Pinokiyo, are described.

Four species of Eschatogonia are recognized in Peru: E. angustiloba Timdal sp. nov., E. dissecta Timdal & R. Sant. sp. nov., E. minuta Timdal & R. Sant. sp. nov., and E. prolifera (Mont.) R. Sant. African and South American material of E. prolifera are shown to belong in two different chemical strains. Eschatogonia prolifera is new to Guinea, Peru and Suriname. A key to all six known species of the genus is given.

A phylogenetic study using DNA sequences of the nuclear ribosomal large subunit from 38 species is used to infer the phylogeny of species currently placed in Topeliopsis. The genus is shown to be polyphyletic; monophyly of previous and current circumscriptions of the genus are rejected using two alternative hypothesis tests. Topeliopsis meridiensis is shown to be closer to Chapsa than Topeliopsis, but additional studies are necessary to understand the circumscription of Chapsa. The new genus Melanotopelia Lumbsch & Mangold is described to accommodate T. toensbergii and T. rugosa. These species were previously regarded as aberrant in Topeliopsis because of their thin-walled ascospores and dark pigmented proper exciple. The new combination Graphis mexicana (Hale) Kalb, Lücking & Lumbsch is proposed and Graphis muscicola and Topeliopsis globosa reduced to synonymy with this species.

A study of the diversity and distribution of lichens at 10 sites within the Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, India, revealed 177 species, belonging to 71 genera and 35 families. The Sanctuary exhibited almost all the habit and habitat groups of lichens within its climatically heterogenous and altitudinally (400–2700 m) varied landscape. Among the different habitat groups, obligately corticolous lichens were dominant (133 species), followed by facultatively corticolous lichens (occurring on both rock and bark; 25 species), saxicolous lichens (17 species) and terricolous lichens (2 species). The corticolous habitat group was dominated by crustose species while saxicolous and terricolous groups were made up of mostly fruticose species. A substantial number of species (77) occurred at single sites only, and each of the 10 sites supported a distinct lichen assemblage. Altitude and humidity were the putative key factors controlling the diversity and distribution of lichens within the Sanctuary. The mid altitude range 1400–1600 m had the greatest lichen diversity, which showed a unimodal pattern in relation to altitude.

Autecological information targeted towards rare and threatened lichen species is severely lacking. This study adopts the rare British lichen Vulpicida pinastri as a case study species and examines its ecological response to emerging threats: climate change and the recurrent loss of its primary habitat (juniper scrub). We used predictive niche modelling to examine the response of V. pinastri to a range of present-day climatic variables. A successful model was projected for a period during the 2050s based on IPCC climate change scenarios (UKCIP02 data), and threat was estimated as the proportional change in bioclimatic space. To estimate the potential range now and during the 2050s, projected bioclimatic space was masked by a habitat map equivalent to (i) the present-day distribution of juniper and (ii) theoretical juniper distribution based on existing rates of decline. Our results point to potential range loss of V. pinastri with climate warming, exacerbated by the recurrent decline in juniper habitat. This predictive modelling approach was complemented by an assessment of local stand-scale effects. At four sites in north-east Scotland we examined the occurrence and abundance of V. pinastri thalli, in response to juniper spatial distribution, and the life-stage and structure of individual shrubs. Vulpicida pinastri appeared to be dispersal limited at small-scales, and was significantly more abundant on old and degenerate juniper shrubs. Our results evidence a close relationship between management for habitat quality and effective lichen conservation. Effective conservation of V. pinastri must ensure cohorts of older and degenerate juniper shrubs are maintained at sites where the species is expected to be most resistant to long-term climate warming, i.e. in the uplands of north-east Scotland.

During a visit to the Natural History Museum London I examined material of the genus Porocyphus from the British Isles. A collection labelled Porocyphus coccodes [Scotland, Forfar, Caenlochan, on damp, E-facing rock (±basic), 1700 ft, 10 viii 1968, P. James (BM)] turned out to be a well-developed specimen of Metamelanea umbonata Henssen. Another two specimens from Scotland sent to me for identification belong here as well: Mid-Perth, Bread-albana, Creag Mhòr, S-facing cliffs, 700–800 m, 27/39.35, 6 vii 1979, B. Coppins 4573 (E, hb M. Schultz); Angus, Caenlochan Glen (N side), Glasallt Burn, W-facing cliffs, on vertical flushed granite cliff face, 800 m, 37/17, 7 viii 1989, B. Coppins 13383 & O. Gilbert (E, hb M. Schultz).