The maintenance of protected lichen species and their biodiversity in general depends on good management practices based on their distribution and habitat preferences. To date, 10 of the 17 protected lichen species of Hungary have been recorded in the Bakony Mts including the Balaton Uplands region. Habitat preferences of three protected Cladonia species (C. arbuscula, C. mitis and C. rangiferina) growing on underlying rocks of red sandstone, basalt, Pannonian sandstone and gravel were investigated by detailed sampling. We recorded aspect, underlying rock type, soil depth, pH and CaCO3 content, habitat type (as defined by the General National Habitat Classification System Á-NÉR), all species of lichen, bryophyte and vascular plants as well as percentage cover of exposed rock, total bryophytes, lichens, vascular plants and canopy, degree of disturbance and animal impacts. Sporadic populations of these species mostly exist at the top of hills and mountains in open acidofrequent oak forests, but they may occur in other habitats, such as closed acidofrequent oak forests, slope steppes on stony soils, siliceous open rocky grasslands, open sand steppes, wet and mesic pioneer scrub and dry Calluna heaths. Cladonia rangiferina was found to grow beneath higher canopy cover than either C. arbuscula or C. mitis in the Balaton Uplands. Furthermore, there were significant differences in canopy cover between occupied and unoccupied quadrats in the case of all three species. Cladonia rangiferina is a good indicator species of natural habitats in Hungary due to its restricted distribution and low ecological tolerance. These results may lead to the adoption of effective conservation methods (e.g. game exclusion, artificial dispersal) in the future.

Temperature preferences and small-scale distribution patterns of four Dermatocarpon taxa in the catchment areas of two Bulgarian rivers were analyzed. Taxa with an overall alpine or arctic-alpine distribution were restricted to microhabitats with the lowest water and rock surface temperatures. A trend for increasing Dermatocarpon rivulorum thallus diameter and colony size (aggregates of thalli) with decreasing temperature was identified. Data on pH and conductivity of the water for the study sites are provided for all taxa. Dermatocarpon arnoldianum is reported for the first time from Bulgaria, confirmed by ITS sequence data, and its known range extends to South-East Europe. All previous records of D. rivulorum from Bulgaria were based on misidentified specimens of D. arnoldianum. Freshwater taxa of Dermatocarpon are proposed as a tool for monitoring the biological effects of temperature changes due to global climate change. Thallus and colony size are recommended as additional features for monitoring populations of threatened Dermatocarpon species.

Five new species and one new record of Astrothelium (Trypetheliaceae) are reported from Thailand. Phylogenetic analysis of four DNA loci (ITS, nuLSU, mtSSU rDNA and RPB1) demonstrated the placement of the new species within Astrothelium, as well as their distinction from similar or related taxa. The new species are: A. flavocoronatum, with a yellow pigment surrounding the ostiole, and 3-septate ascospores 22–28×8·0–9·5 µm; A. macrostiolatum, with large whitish ostiolar area, a hamathecium inspersed with small oil droplets, and 9–11-septate ascospores 80–100×17–19 µm; A. neglectum, with lichexanthone on the thallus and pseudostromata, a non-inspersed hamathecium and 3–5-septate ascospores 21–25×7·5–9·5 µm; A. neovariolosum, with inspersed hamathecium and 3-septate ascospores 17–23×6–7 µm; and A. siamense, with inspersed hamathecium and 4–7-septate ascospores 30–50×10·5–12·0 µm. Astrothelium aenascens is reported from Thailand for the first time.

Lichens are a fascinating example of a symbiotic mutualism. It is still uncertain which processes guide fungal-photobiont interactions, and whether they are random or of a more complex nature. Here, the fungal-algal interactions in Ramalina menziesii and co-occurring taxa are analyzed by using DNA sequences of the algal Internal Transcribed Spacer region (ITS), to investigate fungal-algal associations in juvenile R. menziesii and allied species. Algal species were identified by a combination of BLAST searches, median-joining network analysis, and Bayesian phylogenetics. Fungal-algal networks were analyzed for nestedness, both at the species and haplotype level (fungal species vs. algal haplotypes), and the networks were inspected for evidence of compartmentalization. Bayesian phylogenetic trees indicated that the widespread green alga Trebouxia decolorans associated with R. menziesii, as well as six other fungal species. Four additional fungal species interacted with four different species of Trebouxia. Only in one out of ten samples were algal haplotypes shared with the nearest neighbours of juvenile R. menziesii. Fungal-algal species interactions were compartmentalized, while at the level of algal haplotypes, nestedness was found. This pattern is similar to the compartmentalization found in other intimately interacting mutualists.

A chemotaxonomic study was carried out on the Lethariella cladonioides complex, including L. sernanderi and L. cashmeriana of the subgenus Chlorea, based on extensive field surveys and a detailed morphological and chemical analysis. Only one species, L. cladonioides made up of five chemical races, is recognized. Lethariella sernanderi and L. cashmeriana are reduced to synonyms under L. cladonioides. The presence of a remarkable chemical polymorphism within the population of L. cladonioides is demonstrated. New data on the chemistry and the distribution of the species are presented.

In 1915 Hue described Lecanora (sect. Placodium) aequata growing over quartzite rocks from Busan and the Kangwon Provinces of South Korea. Later Zahlbruckner (1931) transferred it to the genus Caloplaca. Careful examination of syntype material of L. aequata lodged at The Natural History Museum, UK (BM) demonstrates that the species is conspecific with C. cinnabarina (Ach.) Zahlbr. and we henceforth synonymize it with that species.

Using ITS nrDNA sequence data, the Caloplaca cerina group (Teloschistaceae) is defined here as a monophyletic, but internally richly branched lineage. The group is also characterized by a combination of morphological and anatomical characters. Its internal lineages are supported by phenotypic characters in addition to ecology and distribution. Within the large C. cerina group, we have found at least 20 phylospecies in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. Two species complexes do not produce any vegetative diaspores: the polyphyletic, corticolous Caloplaca cerina s. lat. (six separated cryptic or semi-cryptic species) and the monophyletic C. stillicidiorum s. lat. that grows mainly on plant debris, small shrubs and bryophytes and consists of at least four internal lineages. All lineages producing vegetative diaspores (soredia, blastidia, isidia or lobules) are phenotypically characteristic and represent fairly easily distinguishable species: C. chlorina, C. isidiigera, C. monacensis, C. subalpina, C. thracopontica, C. turkuensis and C. ulmorum. Only the North American sorediate C. pinicola possibly represents an aggregate of species. Caloplaca sterilis is described as a new species. A key to the phenotypically distinguishable species is provided.

Lectotypes are designated for C. albolutea, Caloplaca cerina f. coronulata and for C. monacensis. The Australian C. hanneshertelii belongs to this group, but this and other possible species from the Southern Hemisphere are not treated here in detail. Some species traditionally placed in the C. cerina group due to their similar morphology are excluded here on the basis of our phenotype examinations and molecular data. Caloplaca albolutea, C. mydalaea and C. virescens are uncertain taxa and their identities still remain unclear.

Lichens respond sensitively to ambient nitrogen levels. Global change, which includes the increase of nitrogen-polluted environments, causes the decline of species sensitive to eutrophication, whereas some species tolerant of high nitrogen levels increase. Lichens produce hundreds of carbon-based secondary substances (so-called lichen substances), most of which are unique to the lichen symbiosis. In the present paper, correlative patterns between the eutrophication tolerance of lichen species and their secondary chemistry are analyzed using two data sets, one classifying the eutrophication tolerance of more than 500 Central European lichen species, and another of epiphytic lichens from more than 1200 plots from the Netherlands. Analyses show that, in general, the diversity of lichen secondary metabolites decreases along with increasing tolerance to eutrophication. Most notable is the reduced diversity of depsides and depsidones, the two largest groups of lichen substances, but dibenzofurans and fatty acids are also generally found in lichens sensitive to eutrophication. Conversely, anthraquinones and pulvinic acids are found most frequently in lichens from nitrogen-rich environments that can result from eutrophication. A family-wide analysis of the datasets indicates that loss of chemical diversity is not due to a single species-rich lichen family, but a characteristic of many lichen families.

Population genetic studies of lichen-forming fungi and their algae require appropriate sampling schemes that ensure representative sampling of the genetic variability. One question is whether mycobiont and photobiont populations require different sampling strategies. Here, I applied rarefaction methods to a dataset containing three microsatellite loci of Lobaria pulmonaria and three microsatellite loci of its green-algal photobiont, Dictyochloropsis reticulata. I analysed the sample sizes required for 1) the number of individuals per population, 2) the number of individuals required across a landscape and 3) the number of populations. The analyses were performed separately for the mycobiont and photobiont loci to detect any differences in the accumulation of genetic diversity among the symbionts that would require different sampling schemes. About 20 individuals were sufficient at the population level; within landscapes, 300–400 samples and about 25–30 populations covered most of the allelic diversity. The results indicated that a slightly higher sampling effort was required for the photobiont than for the mycobiont. The optimal sampling strategy strongly depends on the research question, the spatial scale of investigation, and the type of analysis to be performed with the data.

Eleven species are recognized of which C. bogilana and C. subflavorubescens are described here as new to science while nine species (C. cinnabarina, C. decipiens, C. ferruginea, C. inconspecta, C. pellodella, C. scopularis, C. stantonii, C. squamosa and C. subsoluta) are reported for the first time for South Korea. Both new species are peculiar due to their secondary chemistry; anthraquinones along with atranorin, gyrophoric acid and lecanoric acid in C. bogilana, and gyrophoric acid together with anthraquinones in C. subflavorubescens.

Five new species of Cryptothecia: C. alboglauca, C. bengalensis, C. farinosa, C. multipunctata and C. verruculifera, and two new species of Herpothallon: H. granulosum and H. isidiatum are described from India. Herpothallon australasicum (Elix) Elix & G. Thor and H. granulare (Sipman) Aptroot & Lücking are also reported as new records.

Three new species of the lichen genus Caloplaca (Teloschistaceae) from India are described. Caloplaca jatolensis belongs to the Triophthalmidium section, while C. pseudisteroides and C. subleptozona belong to the Sideritis group.