Over the last century, the distribution of Teloschistes flavicans has contracted from being widespread in the southern half of England and Wales to being limited to South-West England with outlying populations in Pembrokeshire and North Wales. Twelve core sites have been identified where the species is well established: ten of these are saxicolous/terricolous habitats on windy coastal cliff tops; the other two are lines of sycamore trees near the coast. At 39 further localities, some inland, the species is in very small amounts (often on one tree) and vulnerable to extinction. It is normally a member of the Parmelietum revolutae or Ramalinetum scopularis associations. The conservation of the species is discussed.

A new sorediate species of Rinodina (R. algarvensis sp. nov.) is describedfrom SouthPortugal, where it grows on siliceous rocks. It is mainly characterized by its distinctivechemistry, being the only saxicolous Rinodina species hitherto known to contain stictic, cryptostictic, norstictic and menegazziaic acids in addition to atranorin and zeorin. It is compared with R. aspersa, a morphologically similar saxicolous species, which also occurs in south-west Europe, and with R. stictica, a corticolous, sorediate, North American species that also contains the stictic acid chemosyndrome.

Lecania poeltii v.d. Boom, Alonso & Egea sp. nov. is described from Portugal and northern Africa. The species is characterized by its inconspicuous hairs on thallus and apothecia, in which it differs from the other known species of the genus.

Two species of Verrucariaceae, Endocarpon globosum Harada & L.-S. Wangsp. nov., and Staurothele yunnana Harada & L.-S. Wang sp. nov., are described. Both grow on stones submerged in a stream on Meili Snow Mountain in NW Yunnan, China.

The diminutive species Gyalidea praetermissa is described from Central Sweden. At the only known locality it grows on the sheltered and shaded vertical north side of a large boulder in an open pine forest. The species is mainly characterized by the 4-5-septate spores.

A preliminary annotated list of the foliicolous lichens and of their lichenicolous fungi occurring in the laurisilva in Madeira is presented. Fellhaneropsis Séerus. & Coppins gen. nov. is introduced to accommodate Bacidia myrtillicola Erichsen and Bacidia vezdae Coppins & James, both being present in Madeira on living leaves. Two new species are described: Byssoloma kalbii Sérus. sp. nov. and Fellhanera seroexspectata Sérus. sp. nov. The following combinations are introduced: Fellhanera lambinonii (Sérus.) Lücking & Sérus.,Fellhaneropsis myrtillicola (Erichsen) Sérus. & Coppins, F. vezdae (Coppins & James) Sérus. & Coppins, Woessia apiahica (Müll. Arg.) Sérus., W. canariensis (Lumbsch & Vězda) Sérus. and W. vasakii (Vězda) Sérus. A key to all foliicolous species of Fellhanera is presented. Bacidia buxi Vězda & Vivant and Bacidia gorgonea. Vězda & Poelt are reduced into synonymy with Fellhaneropsis myrtillicola, Tapellaria similes Kalb with Byssoloma marginatum(Arnold) Sérus., and Bacidia michaeliana Sérus. with .Bacidia lambinonii Sérus.

Spirographa vinosa Holien & Triebel is described from boreal spruce forest of Norway. It is lichenicolous on different species of Ochrolechia and Pertusaria. Within the genus S. vinosa is characterized by its 8-spored asci, up to 5-septate ascospores with obtuse ends and its apothecial pigments causing aeruginose and purplish reactions with KOH.

Three species are recognized as additions to the British montane lichen flora: Catillaria gilbertii sp. nov., Halecania bryophila sp. nov., and H. micacea sp. nov. All three have so far been recorded only from the mica-schist mountains of the Central Highlands of Scotland.

Thelopsis foveolata Renob. & Barreno sp. nov., is described from Northern Spain. It appears to be very rare and easily overlooked, but has a well-defined ecology. It grows on limestone within sciaphilous and humidity-loving communities, such as Gyalectetum leucaspidis and Petractinetum hypoleucae. The pycnidia and conidiogenous cells are described and illustrated, this being the first detailed account of these structures in the genus Thelopsis.

Myeloconis P. M. McCarthy & Elix gen. nov. is described from the Neotropics and the eastern Paleotropics. Four new species, M. erumpens, M. fecunda, M. guyanenis and M. parva, are recognized. The genus is characterized by a medulla containing previously unknown yellow or orange pigments and perithecioid ascomata with a dark, dense, almost pseudostromatal wall, a basally anastomosing, but otherwise free, hamathecium, uniformly thin-walled asci and elongate, muriform ascospores. While its affinities are uncertain, the ascomata and their contents suggest a rather close relationship with Porina Müll. Arg. and ClathroporinaMüll. Arg. (Trichotheliaceae).

Lecania pusilla Tretiach sp. nov. is described from the Trieste Karst, where it was collected twice on epilithic mosses in protected overhangs. The new species is characterized by simple or uniseptate spores, pruinose apothecia, and Bacidia-type asci; it has a reduced, granular thallus with no lichen substances.

The genus Jarmania, based on the single species J. tristis, is described. The new genus is characterized by a byssoid-leprose thallus, immarginate apothecia, asci of the Bacidia-type, strongly anastomosing paraphyses and septate, acicular ascospores. The new species is corticolous and is known only from cool temperate rainforest in Tasmania.

The distribution of crustose Caliciales has been surveyed in 100 spruce forest patches in Sør-Trøndelag, central Norway. Relationships between occurrence of the species and a number of site and stand variables were analysed by detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and direct gradient analysis. Species diversity7 was significantly higher in old forests and in forests at higher altitudes compared to young forests and forests at lower altitudes. Old trees and snags are considered to be the most important structural components in old forests promoting species diversity of the Caliciales. Threatened or vulnerable species, such as Chaenotheca gracilliina, Cybebe gracilenta, Sclerophora coniophaea and S. peronella were confined to forest on rich soils showing no correlation with forest stand age. Chaenotheca brachypoda and C. trichialis were found to be the most typical old forest species among the Caliciales. Humidiphilous species are considered to be less affected by forestry in a humid climate. A change in forestry practice towards methods imitating the natural dynamic processes is considered necessary to maintain species diversity of the Caliciales in boreal forests.

The new combination Stereocaulon plicatile (Leight.) Fryday & Coppins is made for a previously enigmatic crustose lichen with submuriform ascospores; the basionym, Lecidea plicatilis Leight., was previously misapplied to a norsticticacid containing species of Rhizocarpon. The systematic position of the crustose Stereocaulon leucophaeopsis group is discussed.

We present a survey of the six known species of Anhothelium occurring in the western Mediterranean. The oceanic A. lirellans, which may occur in the study area, is included for comparison; A. taediosoides is described as new and a key to all species is given. Anhothelium as understood today is composed of more-or-less distinct natural groups of species, some of them being compared here. Representatives of the A. sardoum group are related to species of the Arthonia radiata or A. galactites group on the basis o anatomical characters of the ascomata.

Strigula fossulicola sp. nov. and S. oceanica sp. nov. are described from Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia. They inhabit the leaves of endemic shrubs and trees and are distinguished by ascospores that fracture at the septum prior to maturity.

The lichen flora of high ground in the west of Ireland is described by reference to four localities (Brandon Mountain, Muckanaght, Ben Bulben, Slieve League). These were selected on the basis of their reputation for calcicolous alpine vascular plants and for being some of the most highly oceanic mountains in Europe. The montane element in the lichen flora is strictly limited, populations being small and isolated, although sub-montane species are more frequent. A small group of 44 species has been identified, which is 30% fewer than is found in either the Lake District or Snowdonia; their distribution and ecology are described. The margin of high-level tarns on Brandon Mountain support communities of outstanding importance, including Rinodina fimbriata, new to the British Isles. Seventeen lichens are reported as being new to Ireland.

Hyalopyrenia japonica Harada (lichenized Ascomycotina) is described as new genus on the basis of a specimen from friable rock in forests in Chiba-ken, central Japan. It is characterized by a poorly developed crustose thallus, a Trentepohlia phycobiont, immersed perithecia with hyaline walls, simple paraphyses and periphyses, non-amyloid bitunicate asci with an ocular chamber, and transversely septate hyaline spores. Hyalopyrenia is monotypic, and its taxonomic position is uncertain.

A significant negative correlation was found between the quantity of acetone-extractable phenolic compounds and the degree of enzyme polymorphism in eight eastern North American populations of Umbilicaria americana. In sites higher elevations, where UV irradiance was more intense, phenolic levels were significantly lower and within-stand enzyme variability significantly greater than in low elevation sites. Similarly, the phenolic content of thalli collected in Ontario, Canada, over a 16-month sampling period was negatively correlated with mean monthly UV-B irradiance.

Standardized lichen surveys were conducted on 849 trees in 132 ecological long-term observation plots in the Swiss Plateau and Pre-Alps: 262 lichen taxa were identified, 64 (24%) of them sorediate crustose species. Their mean percentage of the flora on individual trees and in individual plots was even higher. The mean percentage of crustose lichen species with vegetative propagules, such as soredia, was per plot significantly higher in the Pre-Alps than in the Plateau, higher in forest than in non-forest areas, and, according to the vegetation belts, lowest in the colline-submontane zone. It was found that the biodiversity of lichens could not be determined without considering the sorediate crustose lichens. Furthermore, by performing standardized surveys of all taxa, the occurrence of the following species in Switzerland was confirmed for the first time: Cliostomum leprosum, Fuscidea arboricola, Fuscidea pusilla, Hypocenomyce leucococca, Hypocenomyce sorophora, Lecanora norvegica, Lepraria eburnea, Lepraria elobata, Lepraria jackii, Lepraria obtusatica, Lepraria rigidula, Pertusaria boreahs and Rinodina griseosoralifera. Seven taxa that displayed distinctive chemistry, could not yet be identified.