322 research outputs found
Morphological Convergence in Forest Microfungi Provides a Proxy for Paleogene Forest Structure
Amber, fossilized plant resin from gymnosperms and angiosperms, is renowned for preserving a wide range of organisms in microscopic fidelity. These so-called amber inclusions comprise many groups of organisms, ranging from bacteria to arthropods and vertebrates. Calicioid lichens and fungi, which are from now on referred to as âcalicioids,â constitute a diverse group of tiny ascomycetes with superficially similar, usually well-stalked ascomata and which often accumulate mature ascospores on top of the apothecial disk to form a true mazaedium. The aim of this study is to use all available information on the morphology and ecology of extant calicioids to reconstruct the substrate and habitat ecology of known fossil calicioids and then to use this information to open new insights into the stand structure and ecological conditions of European Paleogene amber forests. First, we introduce the morphology of extant calicioids and demonstrate that their structural features are intimately linked to habitat ecology and are instrumental for successful dispersal; we also explain the conspicuous morphological convergence between phylogenetically distant calicioid fungi. Then, we show that the adaptive traits of calicioids have not changed since at least the Eocene, and argue that their fundamental niches also have remained unchanged. Finally, we summarize what the diversity and relative abundance of fossil calicioids in amber tells us about the ecological conditions that once prevailed in European amber forests.Peer reviewe
Dictyochloropsis irregularis (Chlorococcales, Chlorophyta) new to Europe and the peculiar opening of its sporangia
Chaenothecopsis consociata?No parasitic or parasymbiontic fungus, but lichenized withDictyochloropsis symbiontica, spec. nova
On the large distribution of lichenized taxa ofDictyochloropsis and the taxonomic position ofMyrmecia reticulata (Chlorophyta)
Taxonomic revision and species delimitation of coccoid green algae currently assigned to the genus Dictyochloropsis
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