Eco-phylogenetic study of Trebouxia in southern Africa reveals interbiome connectivity and potential endemism in a green algal lichen photobiont.

Premise: Southern Africa is a biodiversity hotspot rich in endemic plants and lichen-forming fungi. However, species-level data about lichen photobionts in this region are minimal. We focused on Trebouxia (Chlorophyta), the most common lichen photobiont, to understand how southern African species fit into the global biodiversity of this genus and are distributed across biomes and mycobiont partners.

Tree decay modulates the functional response of lichen communities in Patagonian temperate forests.

Epiphytic and epixylic lichens respond negatively to forest degradation, climate change and pollution, but those effects may depend on functional traits or interact with the stage of tree decay. Disentangling the main drivers of lichen communities remains a challenge in regions where lichens are diverse and poorly known, as the case of Patagonian temperate forests. We used a multi-scale approach to evaluate the relationship between environmental variables, tree decay stage and lichens.

Photobiont selectivity and specificity in Caloplaca species in a fog-induced community in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile.

Little is known about the nature of the association between mycobionts and photobionts in isolated lichen communities. Here we studied the photobiont diversity of different Caloplaca species in a fog-induced community in the Atacama Desert. We compared nrDNA ITS sequences of both symbionts, photobionts and mycobionts, along with morphological characters of the different lichen thalli, to investigate the diversity and to assess the degree of selectivity and specificity of photobiont species in a community of Caloplaca species.