A checklist of Lichen-forming, Lichenicolous and Allied Fungi of Ecuador is presented with a total of 2599 species, of which 39 are reported for the first time from the country. The names of three species, Hypotrachyna montufariensis, H. subpartita and Sticta hypoglabra, previously not validly published, are validated. Pertusaria oahuensis, originally introduced by Magnusson as ‘ad interim’, is validated as Lepra oahuensis. The form Leucodermia leucomelos f. albociliata is validated. Two new combinations, Fissurina tectigera and F. timida, are made, and Physcia mobergii is introduced as a replacement name for the illegitimate P. lobulata Moberg non (Flörke) Arnold. In an initial step, the checklist was compiled by reviewing literature records of Ecuadorian lichen biota spanning from the late 19th century to the present day. Subsequently, records were added based on vouchers from 56 collections participating in the Consortium of Lichen Herbaria, a Symbiota-based biodiversity platform with particular focus on, but not exclusive to, North and South America. Symbiota provides sophisticated tools to manage biodiversity data, such as occurrence records, a taxonomic thesaurus, and checklists. The thesaurus keeps track of frequently changing names, distinguishing taxa currently accepted from ones considered synonyms. The software also provides tools to create and manage checklists, with an emphasis on selecting vouchers based on occurrence records that can be verified for identification accuracy. Advantages and limitations of creating checklists in Symbiota versus traditional ways of compiling these lists are discussed. Traditional checklists are well suited to document current knowledge as a ‘snapshot in time’. They are important baselines, frequently used by ecologists and conservation scientists as an established naming convention for citing species reported from a country. Compiling these lists, however, requires an immense effort, only to inadequately address the dynamic nature of scientific discovery. Traditional checklists are thus quickly out of date, particularly in groups with rapidly changing taxonomy, such as lichenized fungi. Especially in megadiverse countries, where new species and new occurrences continue to be discovered, traditional checklists are not easily updated; these lists necessarily fall short of efficiently managing immense data sets, and they rely primarily on secondary evidence (i.e. literature records rather than specimens). Ideally, best practices make use of dynamic database platforms such as Symbiota to assess occurrence records based both on literature citations and voucher specimens. Using modern data management tools comes with a learning curve. Systems like Symbiota are not necessarily intuitive and their functionality can still be improved, especially when handling literature records. However, online biodiversity data platforms have much potential in more efficiently managing and assessing large biodiversity data sets, particularly when investigating the lichen biota of megadiverse countries such as Ecuador.

The new species Psoroma nivale is described from an area of late snow-lie in the Keglo Bay area on the eastern side of Ungava Bay, northern Québec, Canada. It is superficially similar to P. hypnorum but has a dark, brownish black thallus colour without reddish hues, much-branched, proliferating squamules, thick paraphyses, distinct but inconspicuous IKI+ ascus tube structures, and characteristic elongate, bacilliform, often asymmetrical ascospores. The new species is compared with possible related taxa and its systematic position discussed. A key to the species of pannarioid lichens reported from arctic areas of North America is also provided.

Porina pilifera Neuwirth sp. nov. is described from Costa Rica. It is similar to P. palmicola, but differs in having smaller ascospores 27–36×3–4 μm. Porina pilifera is only known from the type locality in tropical Central America, where it grows on the leaves of palm trees.

Leiorreuma subpatellulum is described as new to science. The new species has a completely carbonized exciple, an inspersed hymenium and brown ascospores with 6–12 locules, tapering at one end.

The morphology, chemistry and phylogenetic relationships of Chinese populations of Bulbothrix are described. Nine species, including two new species B. mammillaria Y. Y. Zhang & Li S. Wang sp. nov. and B. lacinia Y. Y. Zhang & Li S. Wang sp. nov., and two newly recorded for the flora, B. scortella and B. meizospora, are reported. Bulbothrix mammillaria can be recognized by the sparse cilia that are reduced to a bulbate structure and the broad lobes (3–11 mm). Bulbothrix lacinia differs from other species of the genus by dark brown, spherical to short-cylindrical isidia and common lacinulae on the upper surface. Phylogenetic relationships of currently known ITS sequences from Bulbothrix were inferred to assess the affinities of the new species. A key to all known species from China is presented.

Sporastatia crassulata Yakovchenko & Davydov sp. nov. is described and a phylogenetic analysis (mtSSU) is presented, confirming its distinctness and indicating a sister relationship with S. testudinea. The species is unique among Sporastatia species in having a distinctly squamulose, thick, uneven thallus composed of convex, rounded squamules irregularly ascending in the central part of the thallus. The new combination Sporastatia karakorina (Poelt & Obermayer) Davydov & Yakovchenko is proposed. The type specimen of S. subasiatica was examined. A key to the six species of Sporastatia is given. Mountainous Central Asia appears to be the centre of species diversity and endemism for Sporastatia.

Three new species of Menegazzia are described and illustrated, and their relationships and affinities to other species in the genus discussed. Menegazziabjerkeana Kantvilas is an isidiate species from the coastal ranges of New South Wales; M. brattii Kantvilas is an eight-spored species related to the widespread M. pertransita (Müll. Arg.) R. Sant., and is endemic to Kerguelen Island; and M. gallowayi Kantvilas is an eight-spored species from South Island, New Zealand. Menegazzia sanguinascens (Räsänen) R. Sant. is recorded from Kerguelen for the first time.

The map of the world-distribution of taxa in the genus Leioderma Nyl. (Galloway & Jørgensen 1987: 363, fig. 14), gives the impression that this genus has two species in Peninsular Malaysia, but when checking on the cited specimens there is only one recorded from that region, namely Leioderma sorediatum D. J. Galloway & P. M. Jørg. collected by Gunnar Degelius at Fraser's Hill in Pahang (UPS). However, when going through some herbarium material of the Pannariaceae from TNS, I found well-developed specimens of another species, Leioderma erythrocarpum (Delise ex Nyl.) D. J. Galloway & P. M. Jørg., collected in the Cameron Highlands [alt. 1500–1800 m, 9 viii 1973, K. Suigiyama (TNS)] in Pahang, verifying its presence in the forests of Peninsular Malaysia. This also confirms the special status of these lichenologically poorly known forests (see e.g. van Steenis 1962 on the montane forests of the Malaysian region), where amongst other things some of the most typical SE Asian species of Erioderma also occur, viz. E. phaeorhizum Vain. and E. tomentosum Hue (as well as E. sorediatum P. M. Jørg. & D. J. Galloway, see Jørgensen & Sipman 2002). The nearest previous records of L. erythrocarpum are from montane forests in Borneo and Java (Galloway & Jørgensen 1987: 383).

Lichenopeltella coppinsii Earland-Bennett & D. Hawksw. is described as a new species growing on Verrucaria muralis in Norfolk. It is compared with other species of the genus occurring on pyrenocarpous lichens in particular, and is close to the species informally called ‘L. hydrophila R. Sant.’, a name that has never been validly published.

Trichothelium argenteum R. Lücking & L. I. Ferraro sp. nov. is distinguished by its very large perithecia with a well-developed, silvery white, basally black crown of setae, and by a non-radiate phycobiont. In young perithecia, the setae are confluent and form a characteristic, two-coloured disc-like expansion. Ascospores are 7-septate and bacillar. Trichothelium argenteum is known from a few populations in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

A molecular phylogeny of the genus Byssoloma is inferred from mtSSU sequences using Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses. Byssoloma subdiscordans is resolved as sister to B. citricola rather than to the B. leucoblepharum clade, the B. subundulatum group (species with a compact apothecial margin) is shown to be a monophyletic group, and three species belonging to this group are described as new to science from Hainan Province in China: B. brunneodiscum W. C. Wang & J. C. Wei, with dark brown apothecia, crystals in the excipulum and the presence of 2,5,7-trichloro-3-O-methylnorlichexanthone; B. rubrofuscum W. C. Wang & J. C. Wei, with red-brown apothecia, 3–6-septate ascospores and the presence of 5,7-dichloro-3-O-methylnorlichexanthone; B. melanodiscocarpum W. C. Wang & J. C. Wei, with pure black apothecia, a K+ olive-black hypothecium and the presence of thiophanic acid.

It has recently been discovered that lichens contain a serine protease capable of degrading the pathogenic prion protein, the etiological agent of prion diseases such as sheep scrapie and cervid chronic wasting disease. Limited methods are available to degrade or inactivate prion disease agents, especially in the environment, and lichens or their serine protease could prove important for management of these diseases. Scant information is available regarding the presence or absence of the protease responsible for degrading prion protein (PrP) in lichen species and, in this study, we tested the hypothesis that PrP degradation activity in lichens is phylogenetically-based by testing 44 species of Cladonia lichens, a genus for which a significant portion of the phylogeny is well established. We categorized PrP degradation activity among the 44 species (high, moderate, low or none) and found that activity in Cladonia species did not correspond with phylogenetic position of the species. Degradation of PrP did correspond, however, with three classical taxonomic characters within the genus: species with brown apothecia, no usnic acid, and the presence of a cortex. Of the 44 species studied, 18 (41%) had either high or moderate PrP degradation activity, suggesting the protease may be frequent in this genus of lichens.

A new lichen genus, Rolfidium, in the family Bacidiaceae is described, with R. peltatum as type species. It is known only from one locality in Sri Lanka.