Stephen R. Clayden

Les champignons lichénisés de Suisse, catalogue bibliographique complété par des données sur la distribution et l'écologie des espèces

PHILIPPE CLERC. Les champignons lichénisés de Suisse, catalogue bibliographique complété par des données sur la distribution et l’écologie des espèces. Cryptogamica Helvetica 19: 1–320. 2004. [ISSN 0257-9421]. Price: CHF 96, €64, not including postage and handling (soft cover). Available from: Library, Geobotanisches Institut ETH, Zollikerstraße 107, CH-8008 Zürich, Switzerland. Email: lilo.koenig@env.ethz.ch; fax: 141 632 14 63.

Distribution prediction model for Erioderma mollissimum in Atlantic Canada

Abstract Erioderma mollissimum is a rare cyanolichen found on the foggy Atlantic coast of Canada. The rarity of E. mollissimum and the potential threat from human impact has led to conservation concern for this species in Canada. Recent finds on the island of Newfoundland suggest that the distribution of E. mollissimum may be wider than historically known. In order to better understand the environmental factors affecting distribution and to direct future search efforts a Mahalanobis predictive distribution model using a geographical information system (GIS) was developed for Atlantic Canada. The model suggests that only a small part of this region is suitable for E. mollissimum. This study provides an example of an alternative modeling technique to the traditional statistical methods for predicting lichen distribution.

A Lichen Checklist for Prince Edward Island, Canada

Abstract. The lichens and allied fungi of Prince Edward Island have been poorly studied compared to those of other Canadian provinces. To address this knowledge gap, we made collections between 1993 and 2010 in a range of ecosystems and localities across the island. We also compiled and reviewed other collections from public and personal herbaria, as well as published reports. Based on all known records, we present the first lichen checklist for Prince Edward Island; it includes 256 species in 86 genera. Additions to the list are to be expected as there are unexplored areas and habitats on the island.

Perhumid Boreal and Hemiboreal Forests of Eastern Canada

Eastern Canada takes in the rugged easternmost prominence of North America adjoining the North Atlantic Ocean. From south to north, and along gradients of elevation and distance from the ocean, it encompasses a range of temperate to boreal forests. Distinctive variants of these forests occur in the wettest coastal and montane areas of the region. They occur discontinuously from the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia to southern Labrador (43–52°N latitude), and from the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland to the Appalachian and Laurentian highlands of eastern Quebec (53–73°W longitude).

Notes on New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Mosses

Seven species and one variety of mosses are reported from New Brunswick for the first time. A previously overlooked specimen of Orthotrichum gymnostomum Bruch ex Brid., collected in this province in 1884, is the only North American record of the species outside Newfoundland. Thirteen additional species are confirmed for New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. One of these, Mi- cromitrium austinii Sull. in Aust., is known in Canada from a single specimen collected in Nova Scotia in 1947. Eleven taxa are shown to have been incorrectly reported for Nova Scotia or New Brunswick.

Lecanora insignis (Lecanoraceae) and its lichenicolous fungi in North America, including a new species of Skyttea (Helotiales)

Abstract Lecanora insignis is a rarely reported species in the L. subfusca group, previously known only from montane forests in the southern Appalachians, European Alps, Himalayas and Taiwan. Here, we report its discovery in wet Thuja occidentalis forests at elevations of 50 to 300 m in eastern Canada and northern Maine, U.S.A., along with three associated lichenicolous fungi. Ascospore size is shown to clearly differentiate L. insignis from the similar L. cinereofusca. The lichenicolous species Skyttea insignis is described as new to science, differing from S. lecanorae in its longer ascospores, larger ascomata and apparent host specificity. It is the most frequently encountered lichenicolous fungus on L. insignis in northeastern North America, occurring in nearly half of the collections examined in this study. Stigmidium congestum was found at two localities, one in New Brunswick, Canada, and one in Maine; it is new to North America. Paranectria oropensis is new to eastern Canada.

Erioderma mollissimum (Pannariaceae) found with certainty in Newfoundland, Canada

Abstract Well-developed thalli of Erioderma mollissimum have been found on the island of Newfoundland. Previously reported collections from other areas of Atlantic Canada, and from high elevations in the southern Appalachians, were small and poorly developed. It had been suggested that these might represent a distinct, undescribed species. However, the morphology and chemistry of the collections reported here confirm the identity of the Newfoundland population as E. mollissimum.

Splachnum pennsylvanicum in Canada

The occurrence of Splachnum pennsylvanicum (Brid.) Grout ex Crum in Canada is confirmed, based on a recent collection from New Brunswick and several previously overlooked or misidentified specimens from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Earlier reports of S. pennsylvanicum for Canada could not be substantiated. In five of the six specimens seen, S. pennsylvanicum was growing together with S. ampullaceum Hedw. Three of the specimens were on dung of introduced

Parmeliopsis esorediata (Degel.) Nordnes Discovered in North America

Abstract. Parmeliopsis esorediata (Degel.) Nordnes was first described in 1956 as a non-sorediate variety of the wide-ranging boreal sorediate P. hyperopia. It was considered endemic to subalpine areas of southern Norway until a 2004 collection was made in the Ural Mountains of Russia. Here, we report P. esorediata for the first time for North America, from the Gaff Topsails region of western Newfoundland, Canada. This high-elevation region is similar bioclimatically to those in Norway and Russia where P. esorediata occurs. We review the status of this globally rare lichen and P. hyperopia as a “species pair”. Whether they have an ancestor-descendant relationship, or whether P. esorediata has arisen sporadically and repeatedly, should now be amenable to resolution with molecular phylogenetic methods.

On the distribution and habitat of Fuscopannaria leucosticta in New Brunswick, Canada

ABSTRACT Fuscopannaria leucosticta is a rare lichen that exhibits an apparent specificity for old wet forests in eastern Canada, and may, consequently, be sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance. Estimates of the current distribution and population size are highly uncertain. Effective conservation planning requires improving our understanding of both its current distribution and the factors that influence habitat suitability. We built a MaxEnt distribution model with interpolated climate data, depth to water table mapping, forest inventory data, and herbarium collection data for F. leucosticta in New Brunswick, Canada. We tested model performance via field verifications in high-probability areas with no record of previous surveys. We found F. leucosticta in 13 out of 22 previously unsurveyed locations with a predicted high probability of occurrence. Selected variables included the presence of cedar in the canopy and a lack of recent anthropogenic disturbance, as well as mean annual rainfall and degree days above 0°C. These associations are likely a result of the lichens low reproductive output and the thermal and hydration requirements of its cyanobacterial photobiont. Our study affirms several previous claims about habitat associations of the species, and provides focus for conservation efforts in the future.