Message - 7th IAL Symposium

The 7th International Association for Lichenology Symposium 2012
1A: Lichen conservation: concepts and action
(1A – O1) Submission ID: IAL0133-00001
LICHEN CONSERVATION: FROM ACTIONS TO CONCEPTS AND BACK
Scheidegger C. 1 , Stofer S. 1
1 Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
In this address we will highlight the various instruments in Conservation Biology and discuss their
applicability for lichens. We will describe some examples of species recovery programs and describe which
information was most helpful to convince local and national stakeholders of the need of lichen conservation
measures. We will stress the importance that data on the lichen’s demography and life-cycle be communicated
to the land-managers in their “language”. For the facilitation of the communication between the different stakeholders,
e.g. land owner, land manager, regional and national conservations agencies, and scientists, a national
data Centre for lichens proved to be very important. Conservation programs were most successful when local
stakeholders took the initiative and developed conservation acting plans for species or lichen communities in
their area. However, this process depends on the availability of national instruments that justify local conservation
measures. National Red lists are the most frequently used instruments to define threat categories and
conservation priorities. Establishing national Red Lists is a very demanding scientific task and its complexity is
often underestimated by scientists and funding agencies. However, Red Lists are often the most solid scientific
basis available on which conservation measures can be based upon.
(1A – O2) Submission ID: IAL0129-00001
LUNGWORT’S PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE IS A STEEPLECHASE IN THE FOREST:
SMALL SCALE GENETIC PATTERN OF LOBARIA PULMONARIA IN A PRIMEVAL
BEECH FOREST LANDSCAPE
Nadyeina O. V. 1 , Dymytrova L. V. 1 , Naumovych G. O. 2 , Postoyalkin S. V. 2 , Scheidegger C. 3
1 Lichenology & Bryology, M. G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, Kyiv, Ukraine
2 Botany, Kherson State University, Kherson, Ukraine
3 Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Institute for forest, Snow and Landscape Research,
Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Lobaria pulmonaria is a widespread, but regionally threatened epiphytic lichen species with special
habitat requirements to old-growth and primeval forests. The species is suffering a strong decline in managed
forest landscapes in most areas of Europe and North America. Our study aimed at investigating epiphytic lichen
species diversity and population genetics of L. pulmonaria in one of Europe’s largest primeval beech (Fagus sylvatica)
forests, situated in the Ukrainian Carpathians, the Uholka-Shyrokoluzhanskyi branch of the Carpathian
Biosphere Reserve. Mountain slopes of this massif are covered by almost pure beech forests with varying altitudes
from 400 to 1,500 m. occupying an area of 15,974 ha, almost 9,000 ha from which are considered to be
virgin forests (Brändli & Dowhanytsch 2003). During 2009-2011 we have visited 339 plots and collected about
1,500 specimens from about 500 trees. Trees with L. pulmonaria were found in floodplain forests along the small
streams (400-700 m alt.) and in relatively open forests on the mountain ridges close to the timberline (900-1,200
m alt.). Lobaria pulmonaria samples were genetically investigated with symbiont-specific microsatellite markers
for myco- and phycobiont. A Bayesian analysis of the genetic population structure revealed two distinct clusters,
which were distributed over the entire study area. One cluster was confined to floodplain forests and the second
cluster was concentrated along the mountain ridges. On the mountain ridges, but not in the floodplain forests we
found several admixed demes and a few individuals with an intermediate genotype. Intermediate genotype can
be interpreted as F1 hybrid between the two different genetic clusters.
7
1A-O