Abstracts, XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy) , 9-15

XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy), 9-15 September 2013
Cryptic speciation in Mediterranean lichens
CRESPO A., DIVAKAR P. K., RUIBAL C.
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Dept. de Biología Vegetal II, Fac. de Farmacia, Madrid, Spain. E-mail:
acrespo@farm.ucm.es
Most lichenized species have traditionally been recognized based on morphological and chemical
characters. Within Parmeliaceae, the largest family of lichen-forming fungi, several species have now
been studied in depth using phylogenetic molecular approaches. Some are widely distributed in the
Mediterranean region of Europe, having either continuous (some of them sub-cosmopolitan) or disjunct
areas reaching western North America. Cryptic species have been detected in both kinds of biogeographic
patterns.
We present here a review of different cases of cryptic species in the genera Parmelia, Parmelina,
Melanelixia and Melanohalea. In several cases disjunct subareas show different but cryptic species in
both continents. In species with continuous areas, cryptic species have been also recognized but geographical
patterns generally remain unclear.
Cryptic speciation can involve monophyletic sibling species (i.e. cryptic species s. str.) but most frequently
they prove to be poly- or paraphyletic lineages which are morphologically close and in some
instances almost or not distinguishable. Such cases pose problematic issues in the development of conservation
policies, and also when producing regional accounts and inventories.
Studies involving what have generally been considered widely distributed lichen-forming species
have revealed that some of the most familiar “species”, are not single species, but rather a reservoir of
hitherto unappreciated fungal diversity.
29