Message - 7th IAL Symposium

The 7 th International Association for Lichenology Symposium 2012
(2B-P10) Submission ID: IAL0065-00002
A FIRST SURVEY OF LICHEN DIVERSITY IN THE NATIONAL PARK “MESHCHERSKY”
(RYAZAN’REGION,CENTRAL,RUSSIA).
Muchnik (moutchnik) E. E. 1 , Konoreva L. A. 2 , Kazakova M. V. 3
1 Laboratory of Deciduous Forest Ecology, Forest Science Institute of Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia
2 Lichenology, Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute, Murmansk Reg., Apatity, Russia
3 Biodiversity Lab., S.A.Yesenin Ryazan State University, Ryazan, Russia
The National Park “Meshchersky” (further NP), established in 1992 occupies over 100,000 ha in two
districts of Ryazan region. The NP territory belongs to the south-taiga forest subzone and is flat lowland with
sandy dune elevations and paludal bottoms; the mean height varies between 80 and 120 meters above sea level.
The climate is moderately continental, and the average annual temperature is +4 o C with July to be warmest.
The average annual precipitation is 560 mm. Forests occupy 61,051 ha with dominating pine and birch forest
(62% and 32% respectively); spruce occupies only 2%, oaks, aspens, black alders, willows account for 1% each.
Pioneer inventorial studies of NP lichen diversity were carried out in 2009-2010. 119 lichen species (including
traditionally analyzed fungi) were recorded. The most common are the following 15 species: Chaenotheca ferruginea,
Cladonia cenotea, C. chlorophaea agr., C. fimbriata, C. rangiferina, Hypocenomyce scalaris, Hypogymnia
physodes, Lecanora albellula, L. symmicta, Parmelia sulcata, Parmeliopsis ambigua, Physcia aipolia,
Pycnora sorophora, Scoliciosporum chlorococcum, S. sarothamni, Vulpicida pinastri, Xanthoria parietina. All the
species noted basically inhabit tree bark and wood (except those in the genus Cladonia which grow more often
on the soil or mosses at trunk bases or decaying brushwood). Among rarely occurring lichen species which may
serve as indicators of relatively undisturbed old-age forest communities are Calicium trabinellum, Chaenotheca
stemonea, Cladonia parasitica. To rare or occasionally occurring lichens in the middle belt of European Russia
belong Baeomyces rufus, Catinaria atropurpurea, Chaenothecopsis pusilla, C. savonica, Lecanora fuscescens,
Psilolechia lucida, Thelocarpon laureri. Lichenological investigations in the NP remain necessary, as only relatively
small sample areas of the territory have been surveyed so far. Probably, no more than 75% of the lichen
biota has been described up to now.
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2B-P