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Systematic data collection for direct statistical analysis of biodiversity trends tends to be focused on charismatic fauna and flora such as birds or vascular plants. When subsequently applied by conservation agencies in summary metrics tracking habitat and species protection, these patterns in biodiversity loss or gain can fail to capture outcomes for groups that have a prominent importance in habitat composition, diversity and ecological function, such as algae, bryophytes, lichens and other fungi. Such species are primarily recorded on an ad hoc basis by taxonomic specialists, yielding noisy data that present problems in robustly identifying trends. This study explored the use of ad hoc field-recorded data as a potential source of biodiversity information, by comparing the pattern of recording for carefully selected indicator species with those for benchmark or control species as a proxy for recording effort. Focusing on Scotland’s internationally important epiphytic lichens, and especially ‘old-growth’ indicator species, British Lichen Society data revealed a decline in the extent of these species in Scotland, relative to recording effort, over a period of five decades. A recent slowing in the rate of decline is observed but remains to be confirmed. The long-term decline is consistent with the effect of land use intensification, resulting in small and isolated populations that are vulnerable to extinction debt. We caution that remedial protection and monitoring for such populations remains vital as a complement to Scotland’s larger scale ambition for increased woodland extent and connectivity.

Directly observed biodiversity data have a limited temporal span of c. 100–150 years. Consequently, for a region such as temperate Western Europe, our knowledge of species distributions is restricted to a period impacted by the process of massive industrialisation. There is a danger of shifted baselines in terms of conservation policy and targets. Here we present a novel source of high resolution archaeobotanical information for lichen epiphyte bioindicators; these data can reconstruct species distributions for the pre-industrial European landscape. We compare these historic records to a species’ post-industrial distribution and environmental response, quantifying the spatial trend and causes of biodiversity loss. The results indicate regional extinction rates of c. 76% in response to habitat loss and industrial pollution. We propose pre-industrial baselines that would better represent biodiversity restoration for temperate regions (net gain), and which would be equitable with advocacy for species and habitat protection in the present-day tropics (no net loss).

Field survey by a taxonomist or specialist biologist (‘taxonomic survey’) provides a comprehensive inventory of species in a habitat. Common and conspicuous species are rapidly recorded and search effort can be targeted to inconspicuous or rare species. However, the subjective nature of taxonomic survey limits its usefulness in ecological monitoring and analysis. In contrast, ‘ecological sampling’, focused on the standardized use of repeated sub-units such as quadrats, is designed to quantify the observational error of results, allowing for more robust statistical treatment. Nevertheless, the spatial extent of recording will be lower during ecological sampling, and rarities might be missed. Despite their differences, these two approaches are often assumed to be congruent for decision making. Taxonomic survey is commonly used to identify priority sites for conservation (including species-rich sites, or those with many rare/threatened species) while ecological sampling is used to design conservation strategy by relating species richness or composition to habitat dynamics. If these contrasting approaches are indeed congruent, then trends in species richness and community composition, detected by ecological sampling, will mirror the results of taxonomic survey so that management confidently protects the attributes for which a site was prioritized. This study performed both taxonomic survey and ecological sampling for lichen epiphytes in 13 woodland study sites in Scotland. To understand the procedure of taxonomic survey, fieldwork by a professional taxonomist was structured by effort into 15-minute time intervals. As expected, taxonomic survey discovered more species per site, while ecological sampling (allowing a measure of species frequency) resolved greater variation in community composition. However, the patterns of richness and species composition obtained from the different methods were correlated, suggesting an overall high degree of congruence in identifying and then managing priority sites. Furthermore, when exploring the taxonomic survey in detail, we found that a minimum effort of 45 minutes was required to accurately determine species richness differences among contrasting woodland sites.

We tested two methods to obtain more complete species inventories in surveys of lichen biodiversity. The first was to employ eight lichenologists (all experienced, some specialists) acting as individuals in parallel in a competitive survey. The second was to organize those lichenologists into two competing teams. We show that overall recorded biodiversity is distinctly higher than the part of lichen biodiversity recorded by each single lichenologist (45–66%) or team (79–83%). Use of these methods in a survey of epiphytic and epixylic lichens resulted in a list containing 112 species in 1 ha, 192 species in 12.5 ha and 212 species for 30 km2 of lowland floodplain old-growth forest in southeastern Czech Republic. Eleven recorded species are new to the country; four are rediscovered after more than 50 years. In comparison, few previous surveys of mixed montane forests in the same region have yielded more than 200 species, even though it is certain that those forests have greater lichen diversity than our lowland forest.

A phylogenetic analysis of nuLSU and ITS sequences representing genera previously included in Dacampiaceae indicates that the family is strongly polyphyletic and that the type species of Dacampia is placed in Pleosporales. The genus Munkovalsaria s. str. is placed in Didymosphaeriaceae (Pleosporales). Polycoccum s. str. and two species of Clypeococcum are shown to form a new lineage sister to the Trypetheliaceae in Trypetheliales and described here as Polycoccaceae. Other members of Polycoccum s. lat. are included in the Pleosporales and are closely related to lichenicolous Phoma-like species of the family Phaeosphaeriaceae. The genus Didymocyrtis is resurrected for these species and for lichenicolous species previously assigned to Diederichia, Diederichomyces, Leptosphaeria and Phoma. The genera Diederichia and Diederichomyces are synonymized with Didymocyrtis. The new combinations Didymocyrtis bryonthae, D. cladoniicola, D. foliaceiphila, D. infestans, D. kaernefeltii, D. melanelixiae, D. pseudeverniae, D. ramalinae, D. slaptoniensis and D. xanthomendozae are made, and the new name D. epiphyscia is introduced for Phoma physciicola. Some anamorph-teleomorph relationships are resolved, such as Didymocyrtis ramalinae–Phoma ficuzzae and Didymocyrtis consimilis–Phoma caloplacae, the phylogenetic results being supported by single ascospore cultures that lead to the asexual stage producing pycnidia and conidia in culture. Speciation by host switching is assumed to be important in the genus Didymocyrtis. An identification key to Didymocyrtis species is provided.

Across much of lowland Britain, lichen diversity has been dramatically affected by the Industrial Revolution, including the lasting legacy of pollution, and changes in land use including the loss, intensification, or abandonment of traditional woodland management. We sampled preserved epiphytes on historical timbers in vernacular buildings to reconstruct pre-industrial lichen species occurrence for a site in Exmoor, south-west England, and used these data to quantify biodiversity loss that appears related to shifts in woodland composition. A total of 33 lichen epiphyte species were collected from pre-industrial structural timbers, and these were compared with modern lichen occurrence. Based on a direct comparison with species presence-absence in the same 10 km target grid-square,c. 31% of species recorded from the pre-industrial landscape had disappeared from the post-1960 landscape. Based on statistical inference comparing historical records with present-day biogeographical distributions, up to 38% of species could be inferred to be lost. This study presents a surprisingly high figure for these losses for a region in Britain usually recognized as having a relatively unpolluted environment and a diverse set of lichens. Of 12 species that were inferred to be lost, nine are predominantly found on nutrient-rich bark, and in our study onUlmus, the dominant timber in the archaeological samples. We conclude that shifts in phorophyte distribution and abundance may be more important in this region than previously understood.

The biodiversity response to climate change is a major focus in conservation research and policy. Predictive models that are used to project the impact of climate change scenarios - such as bioclimatic envelope models - are widely applied and have come under severe scrutiny. Criticisms of such models have focussed on at least two problems. First, there is an assumption that climate is the primary driver of observed species distributions ('climatic equilibrium'), when other biogeographical controls are often reliably established. Second, a species' sensitivity to macroclimate may become less relevant when impacts are down-scaled to a local level, incorporating a modifying effect of species interactions structuring communities. This article examines the role of different drivers (climate, pollution and landscape habitat structure) in explaining spatial community variation for a widely applied bioindicator group: lichen epiphytes. To provide an analysis free of 'legacy effects' (e.g. formerly higher pollution loads), the study focused on hazel stems as a relatively short-lived and recently colonized substratum. For communities during the present day, climate is shown to interact with stem size/age as the most likely explanation of community composition, thus coupling a macroclimatic and community-scale effect. The position of present-day communities was projected into ordination space for eight sites in England and compared to the position of historical epiphyte communities from the same sites, reconstructed using preserved hazel wattles dating mainly to the 16th Century. This comparison of community structure for the late- to post-Mediaeval period, with the post-Industrial period, demonstrated a consistent shift among independent sites towards warmer and drier conditions, concurrent with the end of the Little Ice Age. Long-term temporal sensitivity of epiphyte communities to climate variation thus complements spatial community patterns. If more widely applied, preserved lichen epiphytes have potential to generate new baseline conditions of environment and biodiversity for preindustrial lowland Europe.

In the face of changing environments, conservation is tending towards an adaptive framework which accounts for the movement of species in the landscape. This makes it necessary to quantify population dynamics of species of concern. We studied the nationally scarceCladonia botrytes, a priority Biodiversity Action Plan species in Britain, examining population dynamics at two scales: first, we studied the demography for two populations over a period of 13 years. The monitored populations declined to complete absence, starting from 77 mats on 19 stumps. Individual mats persisted maximally for up to 7 years, but over 78% of more than 290 individual cases persisted only 1 year, and more than 93% of mats disappeared within 3 years. Secondly, we performed a targeted regional survey of more than 800 stumps across an additional 27 sites in the centre of the lichen's distribution in Britain in 2006. The largest populations known from 1998 were revisited and found to no longer support the species; only 9 stumps in 5 sites supportedC. botrytesin 2006. We show thatC. botrytesin Britain is characterized by short individual and population persistence times, probably locally dependent upon vegetative succession including overgrowth and shading, and the degree of stump decay. The species' transient nature poses a particular challenge to conservation, though we identify comparable systems from which lessons may be learned.

The new taxa Cliostomum subtenerum, Dactylospora suburceolata, Fuscidea oceanica, Lecania granulata, Lecidea herteliana, and Ropalospora lugubris f. sorediata are described from collections made from Scotland and Wales. Outside the British Isles, D. suburceolata is also known from Switzerland, L. herteliana from NE North America and R. lugubris f. sorediata from Sweden and NE North America. In addition, Lecidea luteoatra Nyl. belongs to the Lecanora marginata group and the name Lecanora viridiatra (Stenh.) Nyl. is taken up for this species, Peterjamesia sorediata is transferred to Roccellographa, and Ropalospora atroumbrina is included in the synonymy of R. lugubris f. sorediata.

The vernacular building tradition is an established source of information about historic woodlands and woodland management in Britain. We build on this resource by recognizing the information content derived from the tree-dwelling epiphyte communities of lichens and mosses, which are preserved on the bark of historic wooden building materials. We report on a first analysis of preserved epiphytes identified from six regions across lowland England. Seventy-eight vernacular buildings were surveyed for the presence of bark and preserved epiphytes. We demonstrate three novel and important findings: the prevalence of bark, substantial preservation of epiphytes, and their application as an archaeological tool for the reconstruction of historic environments. Future analyses will build on epiphyte species composition and abundance data to examine changes in historic environments across lowland England.

This paper presents a study to partition the role of three regional-scale drivers – woodland extent and continuity, pollution regime, and climatic setting – in explaining the composition and richness of lichen epiphytes in Scotland. To do this we used partial canonical correspondence analysis and multiple least squares regression, to examine lichen communities across 170 study sites. First, our results demonstrate the importance of climate in explaining species composition. This highlights the relatively clean-air environment of Scotland within a European setting, and emphasizes the important consideration of regional context in the development of bioclimatic species-response models. This result contrasts with a previous similar study which collapsed complex environmental data into summary gradients, and which therefore discounted climate as a key factor. Second, we show a functional decoupling between composition and species richness, which was optimally explained by old-growth woodland extent and pollution, and only weakly explained by climate. The difference in explanatory variables between composition and richness is a focal issue in determining the processes by which species compositional change, driven by rapid and deep climate change, may indirectly impact species richness. For example, this impact may occur through an imbalance in rates of species extinction (for sensitive range-edge species) and establishment in a fragmented landscape (for dispersal-limited colonists), though operating against the ‘stabilizing effect’ of microclimatic setting.

Aim To quantify the role of multiple biodiversity drivers – pollution, woodland structure and climate – controlling lichen epiphyte composition and diversity. Location Scotland, north-west Europe. Methods Four compatible datasets were assembled: site-scale species distribution data (response) and base-line modelled data on climate, pollution loads and extent of old-growth woodland (explanatory variables). First, partial-canonical correspondence analysis was used: (1) to compare the importance of environmental variables to pure spatial effects and (2) to partition the importance of environmental variables in explaining species composition. Secondly, patterns of species richness were investigated using multiple least-squares regression. Results Old-growth woodland was the most important control of species richness. Pollution was the most important explanatory variable for species composition. The impact of pollution on composition (and to a lesser extent on richness) is explained: (1) By recovery of lichens with declining SO2 pollution, although with epiphyte composition shifted by the recent effects of N-pollution and (2) By the limited spatial extent of severe pollution, and generally low-to-moderate pollution loads across our study area, combined with the positive effect of old-growth woodland extent in controlling species richness. The effect of climate and old-growth woodland on species composition covaried, supporting an interaction between habitat quality and climatic setting, which may be important in understanding the epiphyte response to climate change. Conclusions Advances in conservation planning will likely require an integrated approach to understanding simultaneous effects of multiple drivers, providing opportunities for integrated management strategies. Our study provides a preliminary example of this approach by combining three key biodiversity drivers into a single framework for lichen epiphytes. Thus, reducing pollution loads may make old-growth woodland that currently exists in a polluted landscape available for colonization, thereby extending the available habitat for epiphytes, and facilitating an effective species response to climate change.

Recent concern over human-induced climate warming has activated bioclimatic research projecting the species-response to climate change scenarios. However, climate change is one of a range of human-induced environmental drivers controlling biodiversity, and for many species should be considered together within a framework of relevant stresses and threats. This paper critically assesses the sensitivity of epiphyte assemblages to regional gradients in climate, pollution regime and landscape-scale habitat structure (woodland extent and fragmentation). We examine lichen epiphytes associated with juniper scrub (a conservation priority habitat in Europe), sampled across a network of protected sites in Britain (Special Areas of Conservation). Results point to significant differences in associated epiphyte diversity between conservation priority sites. Historic woodland structure was identified as of greater importance than present-day woodland structure in controlling species composition and richness, pointing to an extinction debt among lichen epiphytes. Climatic setting was important in controlling species composition, but not species richness. However, we demonstrate that pollution regime exerts the dominant controlling force for epiphyte assemblages across regional gradients. As a corollary, we caution that for many species groups – for example those sensitive to pollutants, or landscape structure – an exclusive focus on climate is restricting, and that climate change models should expand to include a range of multiple interacting factors.

Aim To quantify the interaction between climate and woodland continuity in determining the bioclimatic response of lichen epiphytes. Location Northern Britain (Scotland). Methods Indicator-species analysis was used to pre-select lichen epiphytes along parallel gradients in climate and the extent of old-growth woodland. Nonparametric multiplicative regression was used to describe in a predictive model the individualistic response of selected species, which were projected based on climate-change scenarios and contrasting patterns of simulated woodland loss or gain. Species with a similar response were grouped using a novel application of cluster analysis to summarize the potentially huge number of projected outcomes. Projected patterns of occurrence under climate-change scenarios were examined for different levels of old-growth woodland extent. Results Forty-two lichen species were statistically significant indicator species in oceanic woodlands, and old-growth indicators under suboptimal climatic conditions. Responses to climate-change scenarios were contrasting, with one group comprising species projected to increase in extent in response to climate warming, and other response groups projected to decrease in occurrence, possibly in response to shifting rainfall patterns. The occurrence of all response groups had a positive relationship with old-growth woodland extent. Main conclusions An ‘oceanic’ biogeographical group of epiphytes identified using the baseline climatic and present-day woodland setting comprised species with a cyanobacterial photobiont or tropical phytogeographical affinities. However, within this group the individual species responses to climate-change scenarios were contrasting. Additionally, group responses may be poorly matched with simple ecological traits. However, the studied interaction between climate and habitat continuity suggests that the impact of climate change might be offset for certain lichen epiphytes by appropriate management of woodland resources, for example, expansion of native woodland around remnant old-growth stands.

The preparation of the new edition of The Lichen Flora of the British Isles necessitates the publication of several taxonomic and nomenclatural novelties. The following new species are described: Anisomeridium robustum (Monoblastiaceae), Antennulariella lichenisata (Antennulariellaceae), Fellhanera duplex (Pilocarpaceae), Gyalideopsis crenulata (Gomphillaceae), Micarea farinosa (Pilocarpaceae) and Xerotrema quercicola (Odontotremataceae). Antennulariella lichenisata is the first lichenized member of the order Capnodiales to be described. The following new combinations are proposed: Bacidia squamellosa, Catillaria lobariicola, Collemopsidium arenisedum, C. argilospilum, C. caesium, C. chlorococcum, C. monense, C. subarenisedum, Miriquidica pycnocarpa f. sorediata, Pyrenocarpon thelostomum, Topeliopsis azorica, and Verrucaria nigrescens f. tectorum.

Background: Oceanic hazelwoods in western Scotland are hypothesised to be unmanaged post-glacial relicts, representing an unusual type of old-growth forest habitat in Europe. They are characterised by an exceptionally high epiphytic diversity, including their status as ‘hotspots’ for indicators of woodland ecological continuity. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of climate, pollution and management on the occurrence of epiphytic lichens and bryophytes on Corylus avellana. Methods: Thirteen hazelwood study sites were systematically sampled along a climate, pollution and management gradient in Britain. Epiphyte composition and richness were examined in a strict hierarchical framework, and compared against site-, stool- and stem-scale environmental predictors. Results: The study showed that along the gradient from ‘clean-air’ relict sites to ‘polluted’ coppiced sites: (i) epiphytic local stem-scale diversity declined, (ii) there was a loss of late-successional species including foliose cyano- and tripartite lichens and bryophytes and (iii) stem sizes were reduced, providing a further limit to the accumulation of species richness within a site. Conclusions: Relict hazelwoods in western Scotland are confirmed as an example of the most intact epiphyte communities. In particular, we show that the transition to coppicing can be clearly linked to ecological processes causing species loss.

Projection of species-response to climate change scenarios is a key tool in conservation strategy. Previous studies have projected climate change impacts for animal and vascular plant species using the ‘bioclimatic envelope’ approach. In this study we apply the principles of the bioclimatic envelope approach to examine the response of 26 lichen species whose distributions are well characterised within the British Isles. Lichen species were subjectively selected based on their contrasting distributions, and their ecological traits, which fulfilled as closely as possible the assumptions of the bioclimatic envelope method. We used a split-sampling approach to model the species-response to present-day climate using confirmed records and pseudo-absences as input data, and testing each model against an ‘independent’ calibration dataset. Predictive models were projected using standard climate change scenarios comprising the UKCIP02 data. Projections indicate broad trends in the response of species placed into contrasting biogeographic groups, and point to the potential for significant change in the spatial distribution of the British lichen flora. We highlight putative threats to montane and Boreal elements of the lichen flora, and emphasise significant uncertainty in projected response of the UK’s internationally important oceanic flora.

Ecological studies are essential in understanding the response of crustose lichens to habitat dynamics and developing effective conservation strategy. While the combined response of individual crustose species within a community will be tremendously complex, the overall result of individualistic change can be simplified using trait-based analyses. In this paper we examine the response of crustose species with contrasting reproductive traits (predominantly sexual vs asexual reproduction) and which occur within a closely defined habitat (as epiphytes on the lower bole of aspen) to environmental drivers measured at two different scales, i.e. between and within aspen stands. Our results point to the important effect of tree age and subsequent shifts in bark quality (pH) on the composition of the crustose community. However, shifts in community composition putatively controlled by bark quality comprise a change from a community dominated by sexual species to a community with mostly asexual crusts. Our results suggest therefore that variation within this crustose community may be driven by the combined effects of allogenic change (tree age and bark quality) and autogenic processes that are related to a species’ adaptive life-history traits.

The new combination Lithographa skottsbergii (Zahlbr.) Fryday & Coppins is made for Enterostigma skottsbergii Zahlbr., described from the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile. The species is known only from Chile but its geographical range is here extended to include maritime regions of south-west Chile. The distribution pattern of the Lithographa species with submuriform ascospores is also discussed.

Studies in the response of vegetation to predicted future climate change have focussed on vascular plants and are therefore largely unrepresentative of wider botanical diversity (i.e. comprising cryptogams; algae, mosses, liverworts and fungi including lichens). This paper presents a study to predict the response of a cryptogam species, the epiphytic lichen Lecanora populicola, to climate change scenarios. L. populicola is an easily dispersed species that occurs predictably in a widespread habitat, i.e. aspen stands. The study area was geographically constrained to a clean-air region of northern Britain. Thus, using the popular bioclimatic envelope approach, the projected climatic response of L. populicola is not expected to be confounded by air-borne pollution effects, or dispersal and habitat limitation. Non-parametric multiplicative regression was used to describe the response of L. populicola to seven climate variables, and an optimum model projected using UKCIP02 scenarios, comprising two time-frames (2020 s and 2050 s) and two greenhouse gas emission levels (low and high). Model predictions suggest an overall increase in the potential range of L. populicola, and, by association, several other ‘Boreal’ lichen epiphytes. Projected increases in the occurrence of L. populicola are associated with predicted summer drying, and indicate a putative threat to negatively associated ‘oceanic’ lichens.

Axioms developed from island biogeography theory (i.e. species-area relationships, effects of fragmentation and isolation) are central to the development of conservation strategy. Within this context, the 'extinction debt' hypothesis brings into question an often assumed relationship between species richness and present-day spatial habitat structure (i.e. extent, fragmentation), suggesting instead that the richness and composition of biological communities may lag behind spatial changes in habitat. We examined evidence for an extinction debt among epiphytic lichens, a highly diverse biological group of significant conservation concern. Using sites in Scotland, we compared epiphyte species richness in smaller-scale habitat units (aspen stands) to larger-scale woodland structure (extent and fragmentation) measured at two spatial scales (1 km 2 and 4 km 2 ) and for two timeframes, modern (1990s to 2000s) and historic (1860s to 1880s). Species richness was positively related to woodland extent and negatively related to woodland fragmentation; however, richness was explained better by historic woodland structure at a 1-km 2 scale, than by modern woodland structure. The results indicate: (1) a coupling of stand-scale epiphyte assembly and dynamics of the wider woodland ecosystem, and (2) a significant lag in the response of epiphyte species richness to habitat spatial structure. However, the effect of spatial habitat structure is different between species groups with contrasting traits. The effect of decreasing woodland extent on epiphyte richness is generally more severe for microlichens (comprising a greater number of rare and specialist species) than the more generalist macrolichens.

Aim Lichen epiphytes are important for biodiversity conservation and are also widely applied as environmental indicators. However, biogeographical and ecological knowledge underpinning lichen epiphyte conservation, and the use of lichens as indicators, is based primarily on a limited range of ‘macrolichen’ species. Wider trends in epiphyte biodiversity remain largely unexplored. This paper examines the community structure of lichen epiphytes on aspen (Populus tremula L.) in Scotland, including species across all functional groups and comprising, therefore, taxonomically difficult ‘microlichens’. Location Northern Britain (Scotland). Methods Epiphytes were sampled from 12 sites throughout Scotland and examined at two scales: between and within aspen stands. Species were classified into contrasting functional groups and ordination by detrended correspondence analysis was used to summarize community structure. Results Within aspen stands (between trees) epiphyte communities showed successional patterns related to tree age. These successional patterns changed predictably for stands aligned along a climatic gradient (between stands). Main conclusions A dual climatic–successional trend in epiphyte community structure is presented. Large-scale trends in epiphyte diversity are explained as the local response of species with contrasting functional traits to climate and autogenic succession. Turnover of functional groups between stands is positively related to β-diversity, and ecological limits to the frequency of contrasting functional groups are presented. Accordingly, the study and application of lichen species with similar functional traits may inadequately represent patterns of biodiversity. This prompts criticism of the currently accepted conservation strategy, i.e. (1) an emphasis in the conservation literature on ‘macrolichen’ species with similar ecologies and (2) the application of lichen indices over climatically variable geographical areas.

Changing land use has a major impact on lichen diversity. This study attempts to identify patterns or trends of lichen functional groups along a land use gradient, ranging from natural forests to open agricultural landscape. In eight countries, covering six main European biogeographic regions, lichen vegetation was assessed according to a standardized scheme. Data on reproductive, vegetative and ecological traits was compiled and relative species richness for all classes of all traits calculated. Relationships between the land use gradient and relative species richness of trait classes were analysed. Open and intensively managed landscapes harbour more fertile species while sterile species are relatively more important in forests. This finding is also supported by analyses of different classes of dispersal propagules. The importance of species with the principal photobiont Trebouxia s.l. increases linearly with intensification of land use. A converse pattern is revealed by species with Trentepohlia. Concerning substratum specialization only generalists show an effect along the land use intensity gradient. Their relative species richness decreases from landscapes dominated by forests to open agricultural landscape. A considerable decline in the rare lichen species richness as a result of land intensification is predicted.

Summary During the last 30 years, 434 epiphytic lichen taxa have been recorded from the native pinewoods of Scotland. Of these lichens, about 219 have been recorded from the bark, lignum or stumps of pine ( Pinus sylvestris ) itself. Eighteen species are, in the British Isles, confi ned to these native pinewoods, which are themselves confi ned to the Scottish Highlands. A resume is presented of the habitats and niches available to lichens in the native pinewoods, using examples of the most characteristic species for each. The ‘ pinewood habitat ’ for epiphytic lichens is by no means restricted to pine, but also includes associated trees, shrubs and subshrubs, especially birch, rowan, holly, aspen, juniper and heather. The strong east – west variation in the composition of the lichen fl ora is outlined. By comparison of species lists from pinewood stands of known ancientness with those from mature plantations distant from the ‘ core ’ pinewoods, an additional c. 60 species can be considered as indicative of an ecological continuity of the pinewood habitat. From this pool of c. 77 species, a Native Pinewood Index of Ecological Continuity is presented as a useful tool for biodiversity assessments of pinewoods.

Lithographa serpentina Coppins & Fryday is newly described from Campbell Island (New Zealand), and is unique within its genus and order for having submuriform ascospores. Also newly described are Lithographa opegraphoides Coppins & Fryday from the Falkland Isles, Rimularia actinostoma Coppins & Fryday from Canada (British Columbia), and Rimularia austrolimborina Coppins & Fryday from southern Chile. The new combination Lithographa graphidioides (Cromb.) Imshaug ex Coppins & Fryday is made to accommodate the previously misunderstood Stigmatidium graphidioides Cromb. and the more recently described Lithographa subantarctica Hertel & Rambold. A key to all described species of Lithographa is provided.

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.

Summary The significance of the Scottish lichen flora is outlined within the context of the British Isles and Europe, prompting a cautionary note on an over-reliance of assessing conservation importance using national Red Data Book categorisations. The conservation needs of lichens and their habitats, from ‘gardening’ to landscape management are discussed.

Summary Atlantic Hazelwoods form a distinctive (yet apparently over-looked) habitat that appears to be unique to western Scotland and, to a lesser degree, western Ireland. The origins of this habitat appear to date from the early Holocene, and there is compelling evidence that some stands may have existed in unbroken succession for 10,000 years. Recognition of the potential relict status of some areas of hazel gradually emerged as a result of several decades of study of the lichen flora. The smooth bark of hazel in western Scotland is known to support a species-rich and specialised lichen community (the Graphidion), including rare, endemic and old woodland indicator species. However, the full expression of this community is found to occur only in certain stands: often coastal, with no (or very few) other trees or shrubs present, and with a long history, but with little evidence of intensive exploitation. Seeking further evidence to back up the relic status of these Atlantic Hazelwood stands proved elusive...

Two new species of Micarea are described from South Africa: M. almbornii Coppins, on loose sandstone from Stellenbosch (Western Cape) and M. endoviolascens Coppins, on damp soil from Transvaal. A note is given on Lecidea geïna Stizenb.

Summary A workshop in tropical forests of Khao Yai National Park on lichenized fungi, identified major components of the lichen flora on corticolous, foliicolous and saxicolous substrata. 161 taxa were recorded in three areas of the park including a riverine site on the Lam Takhong river, a montane forest at Khao Khieo and areas of tropical forest around the park headquarters. Species new to Thailand included foliicolous and corticolous species of equatorial forests, and others yet to be identified or described.

A set of artificial keys is presented to all those crustose lichens (except most species of Lepraria and Leprolomd) which commonly occur without fruiting bodies on rock or soil in the British Isles. A number of predominantly corticolous species that occasionally also occur on rocks are included, as well as several undescribed but well-understood entities.

Strigula muscicola Berger, Coppins, Cl. Roux & Sérus. is described as new to science; it is a muscicolous species with aggregated ascomata and 3-septate ascospores, growing in subalpine habitats in Austria, Norway and Scotland.

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.

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.

Summary The use of fungi, particularly macro-fungi, in culinary and medical activities is discussed, in addition to the early history of the cultivation of fungi for human consumption. Larger fungi have been utilized in the production of dyes, tinder, and fabric over many centuries and have been used also as a source of light and for deodorizing and fumigation. Difficulty is experienced in separating facts from folklore, but there is, as with lichens, a distinct reliance on the doctrine of signatures. Although lichens were widely used in a range of medicinal concoctions, some of which worked to a limited degree, their economic value has been greater in connection with textiles and cosmetics. They have also been an essential ingredient in the economy of the peoples in Arctic regions, as a fodder for reindeer.

Saxicolous and terricolous lichen communities associated with the Blair Atholl limestone are described by reference to two main sites—the Meall Breac area and Tulach Hill (including Creag Odhar). Several rare arctic-alpine lichens occur in the Meall Breac area, including the first population of Cetraria nivalis to be found outside acidic lichen-moss heaths in Great Britain. Tulach Hill and Creag Odhar, in contrast, are at relatively low altitudes and more sheltered, supporting a range of species not normally seen in the Highlands. These communities, most of which lie in the anthropogenic zone that was formerly covered by woodland, are compared with those of major montane calcareous sites in Scotland that have always been above the tree line.

This paper describes a novel archaeological resource—preserved epiphytes on the timber structure of vernacular buildings—used, to our knowledge, for the first time to quantify a loss of biodiversity between pre-industrial and post-industrial landscapes. By matching the confirmed occurrence of epiphyte species for the pre-industrial period, with a statistical likelihood for their absence in the present-day landscape (post-1960), we robustly identified species that have been extirpated across three contrasting regions in southern England. First, the scale of biodiversity loss observed—up to 80 per cent of epiphytes—severely challenges biodiversity targets and environmental baselines that have been developed using reference points in the post-industrial period. Second, we examined sensitivity in the present-day distribution of extirpated species, explained by three environmental drivers: (i) pollution regime, (ii) extent of ancient woodland, and (iii) climatic setting. Results point to an interacting effect between the pollution regime (sulphur dioxide) and changed woodland structure, leading to distinctive regional signatures in biodiversity loss.

In support of the Lichen Flora of Great Britain and Ireland, 22 new combinations are made, and the following new species are described: Bacidia subcircumspecta Coppins, B. viridifarinosa Coppins & P. James, Coccotrema citrinescens P. James & Coppins, Eopyrenula avellanae Coppins, E. grandicula Coppins, E. septemseptata Coppins, Fuscidea hibernica P. James & Poelt, Graphis alboscripta Coppins & P. James, Lecidea doliiformis Coppins & P. James, Melaspilea atroides Coppins, Opegrapha fumosa Coppins & P. James, and O. multipuncta Coppins & P. James.

Four new species of Micarea are described from Tasmanian collections: M. austroternaria sp. nov. (also from Chile), M. flagellispora sp. nov. (also from New Zealand), M. isabellina sp. nov., and M. mutabilis sp. nov. (also from mainland Australia).

Notes are provided on the genus Ramonia and its four species represented in the British Isles, including R. dictyospora sp. nov. and R. nigra sp. nov.

SUMMARY Though the grassland associated with the sugar limestone outcrops in Upper Teesdale supports the richest terricolous lichen assemblage of any calcareous site so far discovered in England or Wales it may not have acted as a significant refugium for late-glacial lichens. A possible reason for this is suppression by open canopy forest during the boreal and atlantic periods. The current high density of terricolous lichens may, to some extent, be a result of intensive grazing over the last few centuries which has favoured the development of an extremely short, open sward offering a wide range of microhabitats.

SynopsisThe results of eight days' recording and collecting of lichens on the island of Colonsay are presented. A wide range of habitats were studied but particular attention was paid to the two relict oak-woodlands and some areas of calcareous machair. An impressive total of 342 lichen taxa was recorded, and two species were added to the British flora.