Relative growth rates (RGR) and carbon-based secondary compounds (CBSCs) were quantified in four dominant terricolous arctic-alpine mat-forming lichens with different preferences for snow cover. The aim was to evaluate the effects of snow depth, and thus snow cover duration, on lichen growth and performance. The species, Alectoria ochroleuca, Flavocetraria nivalis, Cladonia mitis and Cetrariella delisei, are associated with increasing snow depth, respectively. They were transplanted for one year at five snow depths (0, 60, 120, 160 and 200 cm measured in early May) along each of four natural ridge to snow bed gradient transects in oceanic-alpine sites (western Norway). Snow slightly thicker than in source habitats caused negative RGR in the ridge top-dependent A. ochroleuca and the co-occurring F. nivalis with somewhat higher snow tolerance. Only C. mitis with the broadest ecological niche had positive RGR along most of the gradients (0–160 cm), even outside its natural range. The most snow-tolerant species, C. delisei, tolerant also to temporal inundation in water, had the lowest RGR. Nevertheless, it performed as well in places with little or no snow as in places where it grows naturally. Snow depth significantly affected total concentrations of CBSCs mainly in A. ochroleuca, which experienced substantial mass loss under snow. There was a highly significant increase in usnic acid concentration with increasing mass loss in A. ochroleuca, probably because usnic acid decays more slowly than other components. In conclusion, snow reduced lichen RGR, but in species-specific ways. Therefore, increasing snow depth per se along spatial and/or temporal scales likely reduces abundance and distribution of dominant mat-forming lichens in the alpine ecosystems of Scandinavia.

The study of the type and additional material of Buellia andicola, B. hypophana and B. reagens has shown that these taxa are conspecific with B. thiopoliza. Buellia thiopoliza is a muscicolous species growing at middle to high altitudes in the mountains of both hemispheres. It is easily recognized by its K+ purple-red yellow pigment mainly concentrated in the hypothecium, and by the presence of xanthones in the thallus and the apothecial tissues. The new combination Tetramelas thiopolizus is proposed. A key to all known Tetramelas species is included. The also muscicolous Buellia hypoleuca is reduced to synonymy with Phaeorrhiza sareptana var. sphaerocarpa.

Soil-associated lichen species characteristic of north-eastern Patagonia are classified by cluster analysis into six groups using ecological and morphological characters. The constancy of species, the total number of species, the number of species per crust and the relative frequency of species are analysed at sites with different grazing levels: three non-grazed, three regulary grazed, and three heavily grazed. Using the results, the potential use of lichen groups as bioindicators of rangeland conservation and degradation are explored. Species of three lichen groups (group A: lichens growing on calcareous gravels; group C: terricolous lichens with pale, crustose non-areolate thalli; group F: terricolous lichens with pale, areolate thalli) are identified as sensitive to grazing, and most of the species forming these groups are suggested as potential bioindicators of grazing disturbance. Thus, Rinodina bischoffii, Caloplaca holocarpa, Catillaria lenticularis, Acarospora heppii (group A); Lecanora dispersa and Rinodina mucronatula (group C); and Psora decipiens (group F) are the species most sensitive to grazing disturbance. Conversely, species of group D (terricolous lichens with dark, foliose thallus: Collema coccophorum), and group B (lichens growing on siliceous gravels: Aspicilia contorta) may be indicated as the most resistant to grazing disturbance.

Micarea subalpina sp. nov. is described from plant detritus in subalpine forest parkland in the mountains of western Montana (USA). It has similarities to M. assimilata and M. erratica.

Soft unprotected sea cliffs and slopes were surveyed at forty localities around the English coast and found to support a restricted lichen flora that was zoned in relation to sea-level. Bed rock composition, structural heterogeneity and high levels of instability largely control the terricolous lichen vegetation, which is predominantly composed of calcicoles typical of early successional stages. Cyanobacterial lichens are well represented. The species encountered can be arranged into three provisional assemblages characteristic of alkaline bed rock, acidic bed rock, and turf edges. Few species with maritime affinities were present but this group included rarely recorded species of Pyrenocollema and abundant Lecanora zosterae. Other rare and unusual lichens were present, often at a low density and in only a few localities. The lichen flora of soft cliffs has links with that found on urban wasteland and, remotely, with that of sand dunes.