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.

No abstract

Seventeen robust monophyletic branches newly discovered in the phylogenetic tree of the Teloschistaceae after separate nrITS, nrLSU and mtSSU, as well as combined phylogenetic analysis are proposed to consider as the following separate genera:

Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), allowing DNA sequences alone (of any region and extent) to serve as types of taxon names for voucherless fungi (mainly putative taxa from environmental DNA sequences), have been submitted to be voted on at the 11th International Mycological Congress (Puerto Rico, July 2018). We consider various genetic processes affecting the distribution of alleles among taxa and find that alleles may not consistently and uniquely represent the species within which they are contained. Should the proposals be accepted, the meaning of nomenclatural types would change in a fundamental way from physical objects as sources of data to the data themselves. Such changes are conducive to irreproducible science, the potential typification on artefactual data, and massive creation of names with low information content, ultimately causing nomenclatural instability and unnecessary work for future researchers that would stall future explorations of fungal diversity. We conclude that the acceptance of DNA sequences alone as types of names of taxa, under the terms used in the current proposals, is unnecessary and would not solve the problem of naming putative taxa known only from DNA sequences in a scientifically defensible way. As an alternative, we highlight the use of formulas for naming putative taxa (candidate taxa) that do not require any modification of the ICN.

The “Fourth checklist of lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi of Ukraine”, including 2150 accepted scientific names based on published records as well as analysis of current additions are provided. Current additions include 439 taxa newly recorded for Ukraine after the third checklist of lichens of Ukraine by Kondratyuk et al. (2010) and 262 nomenclatural novelties. Annotations to each taxon of 318 newly recorded to Ukraine are provided in the style of the second checklist by Kondratyuk et al. (1998), i.e. data on phytogeographical regions and administrative districts (oblasts) of Ukraine as well as references to published papers are provided. Among current additions 99 taxa were annotated in the Checklist of lichenicolous fungi of Ukraine by Darmostuk and Khodosovtsev (2017) and consequent references to the latter are provided.The conclusion confirms the earlier recommendation that national checklists of lichens are to be re-published more often than once a decade.