New Lichen Web Resources

The New York Botanical Garden has recently made available a set of excellent web resources for the study of lichens in North America.  Here is the announcement sent out by James Lendemer:

"

We are pleased to announce that two new lichen websites have been posted that can be accessed via the NYBG Virtual Herbarium (http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/VirtualHerbarium.asp). These websites treat the lichen biotas of two large biogeographic regions of North America: the Ozarks and the southeastern Coastal Plain.

1) Lichens of the Ozarks - http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ozarklichens/

This website presents the results of Richard Harris and Doug Ladd's research on the lichen biota of the Ozark Ecoregion in central North America. Highlights of the website include a dynamic specimen-based checklist, dynamic literature listings including linked pdfs when applicable, and a pdf of the keys to Ozark lichens produced for the Tuckerman Workshop in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

2) Lichens of the Southeastern Coastal Plain - http://sweetgum.nybg.org/southeastlichens/index.php

This website is an ongoing effort intended to present the results of our continuing research on the lichen biota of the Coastal Plain of southeastern North America.

We welcome all comments, corrections, and suggestions. These should be sent to jlendemer@nybg.org

"

The southeastern Coastal Plain project builds on the research and collecting done by Richard Harris for the classic works Some Florida Lichens (Harris 1990) and More Florida Lichens (Harris 1995).  Currently, we are actively working further north in the Coastal Plain, conducting inventories (e.g., Hodkinson & Case 2008, Hodkinson et al. 2009, Lendemer & Hodkinson in prep), elucidating distributional patterns (Lendemer & Hodkinson 2009, 2009a), and describing new species that occur in the region (e.g., Lendemer & Hodkinson 2010, in prep).  

Those who are attending the Botany 2010 conference in Rhode Island will have an opportunity to see a talk by James Lendemer on the progress of the work so far in the southeastern Coastal Plain (Lendemer et al. 2010).  At the upcoming conference, I will be co-leading a workshop on an integrated approach to lichen systematics (Lendemer et al. 2010a), presenting a poster on semi-cryptic species (Hodkinson & Lendemer 2010, 2010a), and giving a talk on 'rhizobes' associated with lichens (Hodkinson & Lutzoni 2010).  Hopefully, I will see some of you there!

- Brendan

[Research on the lichens of the Ozarks was supported by NSF Grant DEB-0206023.]

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References:

Harris, R. C. 1990. Some Florida Lichens. Published by the author. Bronx, NY. 109 pp.

Harris, R. C. 1995. More Florida Lichens, including the 10 cent tour of the pyrenolichens. Published by the author. Bronx, NY. 192 pp.

Download publication (PDF file)

Harris, R. C., and D. Ladd. 2005. Ozark lichens; Enumerating the lichens of the Ozark Highlands of Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Published by the authors. Bronx, NY. 249 pp.

Download publication (PDF fie)

Hodkinson, B. P., and M. A. Case. 2008. A lichen survey of Williamsburg, Virginia. Banisteria 31: 24-30.
Download publication (PDF file)

Hodkinson, B. P., R. C. Harris, and M. A. Case. 2009. A Checklist of Virginia Lichens. Evansia 26(2): 64-88.
Download publication (PDF file)
View authors' updated checklist (website)

Hodkinson, B. P., and J. C. Lendemer. 2010. Molecular analyses reveal semi-cryptic species in Xanthoparmelia tasmanica. Bibliotheca Lichenologica: in press.
Download draft (PDF file)
Download alignment (NEXUS file)

Hodkinson, B. P., and J. C. Lendemer. 2010a. How do you solve a problem like Xanthoparmelia? Molecular analyses reveal semi-cryptic species in an Australasian-American 'disjunct' taxon. Botany 2010, abs. 355.
View abstract (website)

Hodkinson, B. P., and F. Lutzoni. 2010. Do lichens harbor their own 'rhizobia'? A large-scale phylogenetic survey of lichen-associated bacteria from the order Rhizobiales. Botany 2010, abs. 347.
View abstract (website)

Lendemer, J. C., and B. P. Hodkinson. 2009. The Wisdom of Fools: new molecular and morphological insights into the North American apodetiate species of Cladonia. Opuscula Philolichenum 7: 79-100.
Download publication (PDF file)
Download alignment (NEXUS file)
 
Lendemer, J. C., and B. P. Hodkinson. 2009a. Stretching the boundaries: A range extension for Buellia wheeleri R.C. Harris. Evansia 26(4): 172-176.
Download publication (PDF file)
View dynamic range map of Buellia wheeleri (google map)
 

Lendemer, J. C., and B. P. Hodkinson. 2010. A new perspective on Punctelia subrudecta in North America: previously-rejected morphological characters corroborate molecular phylogenetic evidence and provide insight into an old problem. Lichenologist 42(4): 405-421.
Download publication (PDF file)
Download alignment (NEXUS file)

Lendemer, J. C., R. C. Harris, and B. P. Hodkinson. 2010. Connecting the dots: progress and problems in assessing lichen biodiversity and biogeography in the coastal plain of southeastern North America. Botany 2010, abs. 30.
View abstract (website) 

Lendemer, J. C., B. P. Hodkinson, and M. Piercey-Normore. 2010. Cladonia Systematics: What can we infer from morphology and molecules? Botany 2010, abs. 1052.
View abstract (website)

Lichens of Nome, Alaska

Lichens of Alaska, Part III: Nome

Pannaria pezizoides surrounded by Stereocaulon sp.

Candelariella aurella with Lecanora sp. and unknown Collemataceae.

Bryocaulon divergens with Alectoria ochroleuca  and Cladonia spp.

Lichen-covered igloo mounds on the tundra.

Ochrolechia upsaliensis with Flavocetraria spp. and Cladonia sp.

Xanthoria-covered rocks overhanging clear waters.

Thanks for all the interest in my photos.  A nice field photo accompanied by a good specimen can have great scientific and educational value, so I encourage everyone to snap and collect (with permission, of course)!

-Brendan

[Funding provided by NSF Award DEB-0640956.]

MSA 2010

Last week I attended the annual meeting of the Mycological Society of America, which was in Lexington, Kentucky, the heart of Horse Country and the land of Bourbon Whiskey. I gave a talk on lichen-associated bacteria (Hodkinson & Lutzoni 2010) and it was quite well-received. There were some great talks, and I enjoyed having an opportunity to catch up with fellow friends of fungi!

One of the great things about the MSA meetings is that there's always a jam session at night, and since I play guitar, I'm always excited to join in. Here is a video of part of a long slow jam to the tune House of the Rising Sun:

We played a real variety of tunes from old-time to punk to country to rock, etc., on into the night.

At the end of the conference there was a final banquet and auction, where I made out with a hefty stack of great old mycological books and papers (thanks to Betsy Arnold for her work on the auction)! There were also some more whimsical items. Here you can see the distinguished Dr. Methven sporting some newly-acquired mycological apparel that he won at the auction.

I would encourage anyone who has an interest in fungi to join the society. There are ten different types of membership, so there's a place for everyone! I'm certainly looking forward to the next meeting!

-Brendan

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Reference:

Hodkinson, B. P., and F. Lutzoni. 2010. Do lichens harbor their own rhizobia? A large-scale phylogenetic survey of lichen-associated bacteria from the order Rhizobiales. Inoculum 61(4): 55-56.
View Inoculum issue (PDF file)