Lichens of the genus <i>Peltigera</i> found during the 13^th summer polar expedition in 1997 on the Kaffiøyra Plain, Oscar II Land (NW Spitsbergen, Svalbard)

Abstract

The material was collected during studies of the vegetation of Kaffiøyra in the course of „Thirteenth Toruń Polar Expedition, Spitsbergen - 1997” of N. Copernici University of Toruń. The studied areas were situated only on moraines, some mountain massif slopes, and all terraces. Samples of lichens were taken from 24 out of 61 total squares with an area of 1 km&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;. In the study area, 12 taxa of the genus &lt;i&gt;Peltigera&lt;/i&gt; were noted, including nine new ones to the Kaffiøyra Plain, such as &lt;i&gt;P. aphthosa, P. canina, P. didactyla, P. frippii, P. kristinssonii, P. lyngei, P. neckeri, P. polydactylon, P. ponojensis&lt;/i&gt; and three previously noted, such as &lt;i&gt;P. leucophlebia, P. malacea&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;P. rufescens&lt;/i&gt;. The most frequently recorded species in the study area were &lt;i&gt;P. canina&lt;/i&gt; (9 localities), &lt;i&gt;P. malacea&lt;/i&gt; (9), &lt;i&gt;P. ponojensis&lt;/i&gt; (9) and &lt;i&gt;P. rufescens&lt;/i&gt; (9). The greatest species diversity occurred on Waldemar Glacier Sander. As many as 10 species of &lt;i&gt;Peltigera&lt;/i&gt; genus were recorded there. An average of five species per square were recorded in that region.