Orvo Vitikainen

Distribution patterns in the genus Peltigera Willd.

The distribution of sixty-six Peltigera species in 230 biogeographic provinces or 40 regions are presented. A hierarchical clustering approach, used to identify clusters of species with similar distribution patterns (floristic elements), resolved four groups made up of Neotropical, Southern Hemisphere, Antarctic and mainly Holarctic species. The Holarctic Kingdom is species rich with the highest number of Peltigera species and also the highest number of endemic species; the Australian and Cape Kingdoms have the lowest number of species and endemics. The species rich provinces are briefly discussed.

New records, range extensions and nomenclatural innovations for lichens and lichenicolous fungi from Alaska, USA

Abstract: Dillman, K. L., Ahti, T., Björk, C. R., Clerc, P., Ekman, S., Goward, T., Hafellner, J., Pérez- Ortega, S., Printzen, C., Savić, S., Schultz, M., Svensson, M., Thor, G., Tønsberg, T., Vitikainen, O., Westberg, M. & Spribille, T. 2012. New records, range extensions and nomenclatural innovations for lichens and lichenicolous fungi from Alaska, U.S.A. — Herzogia 25: 177–210. Surveys of lichens and lichenicolous fungi have been taking place in the U.S. state of Alaska for more than 160 years, but until now assessing the full extent of their diversity has been hampered by the lack of a comprehensive and synonymized baseline inventory. In this paper we will begin to redress this by resolving outstanding nomenclatural issues and providing voucher data for a forthcoming catalog of Alaskan lichens, specifically: 1) synonymization and/or resolution of status of species previously reported from Alaska, with emphasis on Alaskan types; 2) species new to the Alaska lichen biota; and 3) biogeographically significant new records from within Alaska. We report 91 species new to the flora of Alaska, including 65 lichens, three saprophytic calicioid fungi and 23 lichenicolous fungi. Of these, we report thirteen species, Biatora sphaeroidiza, Biatorella conspurcans, Chaenothecopsis arthoniae, Collemopsidium foveolatum, Dactylospora frigida, Halospora discrepans, Lecanora bryopsora, Opegrapha geographicola, Peltigera lyngei, Petractis clausa, Protoblastenia cyclospora, Thelocarpon impressellum and Usnea cylindrica as new to North America. In addition, Arthonia pruinata and Flavocetraria minuscula are new to Canada and Adelococcus alpestris new to the United States. We further place the following five names into synonymy: Lecania disceptans (Nyl.) Lynge [= Halecania alpivaga (Th.Fr.) M.Mayrhofer], Lecidea pallidella Nyl. [= Lecania subfuscula (Nyl.) S.Ekman], Lempholemma triptodes (Nyl.) Zahlbr. (= Leciophysma finmarkicum Th.Fr.), Polyblastia obtenta (Nyl.) Lynge [= Sporodictyon terrestre (Th.Fr.) S.Savić & Tibell], and Verrucaria pernigrata Nyl. [= Protothelenella sphinctrinoides (Nyl.) H.Mayrhofer & Poelt]. We propose restoring the long overlooked taxon Polyblastia exalbida (Nyl.) Zahlbr., currently known only from Alaska, to the North American lichen checklist. Finally, we propose the new combination Puttea caesia (Fr.) M.Svensson & T.Sprib. to replace Lecidea symmictella Nyl., which becomes a synonym.

Species delimitation at a global scale reveals high species richness with complex biogeography and patterns of symbiont association in Peltigera section Peltigera (lichenized Ascomycota: Lecanoromycetes)

This comprehensive phylogenetic revision of sections Peltigera and Retifoveatae of the cyanolichen genus Peltigera is based on DNA sequences from more than 500 specimens from five continents. We amplified five loci (nrITS, β-tubulin and three intergenic spacers part of colinear orthologous regions [COR]) for the mycobiont, and the rbcLX locus for the cyanobacterial partner Nostoc. Phylogenetic inferences (RAxML, BEAST) and species delimitation methods (bGMYC, bPTP, bPP) suggest the presence of 88 species in section Peltigera, including 50 species new to science, hence uncovering a surprisingly high proportion of previously unnoticed biodiversity. The hypervariable region in ITS1 (ITS1-HR) is a powerful marker to identify species within sections Peltigera and Retifoveatae. Most newly delimited species are restricted to a single biogeographic region, however, up to ten species have a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. The specificity of mycobionts in their association with Nostoc cyanobionts ranges from strict specialists (associate with only one Nostoc phylogroup) to broad generalists (up to eight Nostoc phylogroups uncovered), with widespread species recruiting a broader selection of Nostoc phylogroups than species with limited distributions. In contrast, species from the P. didactyla clade characterized by small thalli and asexual vegetative propagules (soredia) associate with fewer Nostoc phylogroups (i.e., are more specialized) despite their broad distributions, and show significantly higher rates of nucleotide substitutions.