New records of lichens from Middle Urals, Russia

Twelve species of lichenized ascomycetes are reported from the Middle Urals, in the limits of Sverdlovsk Region. Anema nummularium and Fellhaneropsis vezdae are new to Russia. Collema dichotomum, Epiphloea byssina and Lemmopsis arnoldiana are new to the Urals; seven species are new to the Middle Urals. Most of the reported lichens are known from one locality only, some of them are regarded as vulnerable.

Desmid algae (Charophyta: Conjugatophyceae) of Ekaterinburg, Middle Urals, Russia

Species composition of desmid algae and their habitat preferences in water bodies of Ekaterinburg city were studied during the 2013–2017. Thirty-seven species and subspecific taxa which belong to 12 genera and 2 families were identified, of which 17 species are new for the eastern macroslope of the Middle Urals. Canonical correspondence analysis, which was performed to reveal habitat preferences, demonstrates that the majority of analyzed species prefer quarry lakes, ponds and overgrown lake shores, contrary to fens and rivers

New and interesting lichen records from the Ural Mountains, Russia

Ten species of lichenized ascomycetes are reported from the Urals. Aspicilia spermatomanes, Fuscidea praeruptorum, Lepra excludens, L. monogona, Metamelanea caesiella and Pertusaria amarescens are new to Russia while Bryobilimbia ahlesii, Lecanora orosthea, L. rouxii and Tephromela grumosa are new for the Urals. Our records considerably extend the ranges or fill gaps in the formerly disjunctive distributions of these species. The morphology, secondary chemistry and ecology of the species are discussed.

Diversity and Functional Traits of Lichens in Ultramafic Areas: A Literature Based Worldwide Analysis Integrated by Field Data at the Regional Scale

While higher plant communities found on ultramafics are known to display peculiar characteristics, the distinguishability of any peculiarity in lichen communities is still a matter of contention. Other biotic or abiotic factors, rather than substrate chemistry, may contribute to differences in species composition reported for lichens on adjacent ultramafic and non-ultramafic areas. This work examines the lichen biota of ultramafics, at global and regional scales, with reference to species-specific functional traits. An updated world list of lichens on ultramafic substrates was analyzed to verify potential relationships between diversity and functional traits of lichens in different Köppen–Geiger climate zones. Moreover, a survey of diversity and functional traits in saxicolous communities on ultramafic and non-ultramafic substrates was conducted in Valle d’Aosta (North-West Italy) to verify whether a relationship can be detected between substrate and functional traits that cannot be explained by other environmental factors related to altitude. Analyses (unweighted pair group mean average clustering, canonical correspondence analysis, similarity-difference-replacement simplex approach) of global lichen diversity on ultramafic substrates (2314 reports of 881 taxa from 43 areas) displayed a zonal species distribution in different climate zones rather than an azonal distribution driven by the shared substrate. Accordingly, variations in the frequency of functional attributes reflected reported adaptations to the climate conditions of the different geographic areas. At the regional scale, higher similarity and lower species replacement were detected at each altitude, independent from the substrate, suggesting that altitude-related climate factors prevail over putative substrate–factors in driving community assemblages. In conclusion, data do not reveal peculiarities in lichen diversity or the frequency of functional traits in ultramafic areas

Ultramafic vegetation and soils in the circumboreal region of the Northern Hemisphere

The paper summarizes literature on climate, soil chemistry, vegetation and metal accumulation by plants found on ultramafic substrata in the circumboreal zone (sensu Takhtajan, Floristic regions of the world, 1986) of the Northern Hemisphere. We present a list of 50 endemic species and 18 ecotypes obligate to ultramafic soils from the circumboreal region of Holarctic, as well as 30 and 2 species of Ni and Zn hyperaccumulators, respectively. The number of both endemics and hyperaccumulators are markedly lower compared to that of the Mediterranean and tropical regions. The diversity of plant communities on ultramafics soils of the circumboral region is also described. The underlying causes for the differences of ultramafic flora between arctic, cold, cool temperate and Mediterranean and tropical regions are also discussed. © 2018, The Ecological Society of Japan

Samblike uued leiud Kesk-Uraalidest, Venemaalt

Twelve species of lichenized ascomycetes are reported from the Middle Urals, in the limits of Sverdlovsk Region. Anema nummularium and Fellhaneropsis vezdae are new to Russia. Collema dichotomum, Epiphloea byssina and Lemmopsis arnoldiana are new to the Urals; seven species are new to the Middle Urals. Most of the reported lichens are known from one locality only, some of them are regarded as vulnerable

Circinaria tominii ( Megasporaceae , lichenized Ascomycota ) is represented by two different growth forms

Molecular study of Circinaria specimens collected in arid habitats of the Chuya Steppe showed the existence of two different growth forms, crustose and vagrant, in C. tominii that implies a more complex lifecycle of the species compared to that postulated by Mereschkowsky for vagrant taxa. An ITS phylogeny revealed the position of Circinaria tominii relative to three vagrant species, C. alpicola , C. aschabadensis and C. jussufii . Circinaria tominii was first collected in 1926 and was rediscovered in its type locality 90 years later in the only habitat near Ortolyk settlement in the Republic of Altai (Russia). The species is found on soil in stony habitats of the Chuya Steppe. The estimated abundance of the species reaches several hundred specimens