Additional lichen records and mineralogical data from metal-contaminated sites in Maine

Abstract

Geochemistry and mineralogy of rocks play important roles in the occurrence of individual lichen species and assembly of lichen communities. Whereas lichens of metal-enriched settings have been a focus of study for many decades, only a few such lichen inventories exist for North America. We reexamined the lichen biota of Pine Hill, a serpentine outcrop on Little Deer Isle, Maine and Callahan Mine, a copper-and zinc-enriched Superfund site in Brooksville, Maine by conducting additional field surveys and reexamining unidentified taxa from previous collections. To better characterize the substrates upon which the lichens were found, we conducted elemental analyses via x-ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry on rock samples collected at Pine Hill and recorded pH, electrical conductivity, and elemental concentrations via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry on soil samples from Callahan Mine. The re-investigation of lichens of the two metal-enriched sites resulted in the addition of 20 taxa to Pine Hill and 10 taxa to Callahan Mine. These include Dermatocarpon leptophyllodes, Placynthiella hyporhoda, Pyrenocarpon thelostomum, and Vezdaea acicularis, all recorded for the first time from New England. In addition, we report the first documented records since the late 19th to early 20th century for New England of Porocyphus coccodes, Sarcosagium campestre, and Steinia geophana, and the first such record for Maine for Coccocarpia palmicola. Stereocaulon condensatum and S. subcoralloides, both considered as rare in New England, were also collected from Callahan Mine.

The complexity of symbiotic interactions influences the ecological amplitude of the host: A case study inStereocaulon(lichenized Ascomycota)

“…The distribution of Stereocaulon species follows a pattern that is highly influenced by the type of substrate. Areas of soil and exposed bedrock rich in heavy metals are geologically and ecologically dissimilar from the surrounding areas and may become “edaphic islands” harbouring distinct flora, including lichens (Medeiros et al., ). Many of the analysed samples came from metal‐rich substrates, which in our data set are dominated by Chloroidium phycobionts seemingly tolerating toxic substances (e.g., heavy metals; Beck, ).…”

Global research on ultramafic (serpentine) ecosystems (8th International Conference on Serpentine Ecology in Sabah, Malaysia): a summary and synthesis

“…Contributions from past International Conferences on Serpentine Ecology (Chazeau 1997;Jourdan 1997;Cañamero et al 2004) (Paukov et al 2014;Favero-Longo et al 2015) and the north-eastern US (Medeiros et al 2014). In contrast to plants and lichens, bacteria and mycorrhizal communities seem less affected by ultramafic soils.…”

Heavy Metals in Seaweeds from a Polluted Estuary in Coastal Maine

“…The mine is currently classified as a Superfund site (AMEC Environment & Infrastructure 2015). Previous botanical research at Callahan Mine has generated inventories of the mine's vascular plants and lichens (Mansfield et al 2014;Medeiros et al 2014;Rajakaruna et al 2011) and documented metal uptake in vascular plants (Mansfield et al 2014). The goal of the present paper is to extend this work into the marine environment.…”