Message - 7th IAL Symposium

The 7 th International Association for Lichenology Symposium 2012
(3A-P16) Submission ID: IAL0176-00001
FOCUS ON THE WORLD CLADONIACEAE
Stenroos S. 1 , Högnabba F. 1 , Pino-bodas R. 2 , Ahti T. 1
1 Botanical Museum, Finnish Museum of Natural History, Helsinki, Finland
2 Departamento Biología Vegetal, Unviersidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Cladoniaceae, with its c. 550 species and more than 10 genera, is one of the largest and most diverse
families of lichen-forming fungi. The species comprise a significant component of numerous terrestrial ecosystems
around the world, such as the boreal forests and the white sands of the Amazonas. Cladonia is the largest
genus of the family, including approximately 500 species. There has been an enormous effort devoted to
the Cladoniaceae. The Finnish E.A. Vainio published the first monograph of the family in the late 19 th century.
His work was followed by numerous regional treatments and revisions by various authors. Currently, a full size
world monograph of the Cladoniaceae is under preparation by Stenroos & Ahti, and a new phylogeny is about
to be completed. Our immediate goal is to produce a more accurate classification for the family. We compiled a
preliminary data set of about 550 taxa representing over 250 species from around the world. At this point, ITS
rDNA, IGS rDNA, EF1-α, and RPB2 regions were used as molecular markers. Phylogenetic analyses using both
conventional parsimony (program TNT) and direct optimization (POY) were performed. The results enable a
preliminary outline for classification. Further, we will use the phylogeny, once completed, for clarifying character
evolution, for instance. We will also attempt to estimate the age and biogeographical origin of the Cladoniaceae.
(3A-P17) Submission ID: IAL0201-00001
STICTA FULIGINOSA (LOBARIACEAE): SPECIES OR MORPHOTYPE?
Moncada Cardenas B. 1 , Lücking R. 2 , Parnmen S. 2 , Lumbsch T. 2
1 Licenciatura en Biologia, Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas, Bogota, Distrito Capital, Colombia
2 Department of Botany, The Field Museum, Chicago, United States
The lichen genus Sticta is one of the largest genera of macrolichens, with possibly well beyond 100
species. Recent taxonomic and phylogenetic studies have indicated that the species concept in the genus is
generally too broad: what has been recognized as “species”, such as S. damicornis or S. weigelii, comprise
indeed several, in part unrelated lineages. One of the most striking examples of a morphotype species is S.
fuliginosa, the most widely distributed and most commonly collected species with a supposedly cosmopolitan
distribution. In virtually all treatments, any material having broad, rounded lobes with isidia on the surface rather
than the margin is identified with the name S. fuliginosa. In the course of a revision of the genus Sticta in Colombia,
we found that this concepts includes very distinctive morphotypes, differing in upper surface structure,
lobe thickness, and the shape of the tomentum and cyphellae on the underside. Preliminary, we have identified
roughly ten different species that would fit into a broad concept of S. fuliginosa. Molecular studies do not only
confirm this revised concept but also show that several of these species are not closely related to S. fuliginosa
but fall within other groups. Thus, the traditional concept of Sticta fuliginosa is that of a morphotype, rather than
a group of closely related, cryptic species. This is in accordance with similar findings in other morphotype-based
species complexes, such as S. damicornis and S. weigelii, which also include several, partially unrelated species
lineages.
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