| Seirophora lacunosa | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Teloschistales |
| Family: | Teloschistaceae |
| Genus: | Seirophora |
| Species: | S. lacunosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Seirophora lacunosa (Rupr.) Frödén (2004) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Seirophora lacunosa is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), fruticose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. [2] It is endemic to the semi-arid regions of southeastern Spain.
The species was first formally described as new to science by Franz Josef Ruprecht in 1845, as Ramalina lacunosa. Vsevolod Savich proposed that it should be transferred to the genus Teloschistes in 1935. Sergey Kondratyuk and Ingvar Kärnefelt thought the taxon should be a subspecies of Xanthoanaptychia villosa. [1] In 2004, Patrik Frödén transferred it to the genus Seirophora . [3]
In the arid Tabernas Desert of Almeria, Spain, researchers investigated the hydration sources—rain, dew, and water vapour—that enable Teloschistes lacunosus to survive, probing into the reasons behind its distribution patterns. The field study, which took place over different seasons on a pediment (a gently sloping inclined bedrock surface) and an east-facing slope, employed chlorophyll a fluorescence to monitor photosynthetic activity and recorded microclimatic data to understand habitat influences on lichen wetness and activity. Findings showed that T. lacunosus requires liquid water to activate photosynthesis, with atmospheric humidity alone being insufficient. The pediment, with its more favourable microclimate, had a higher frequency of dew, leading to longer periods of lichen activity compared to the harsher conditions on the east-facing slope. [4]
Teloschistes lacunosus thrives inland where the conditions are drier compared to coastal areas. This species is adapted to higher temperatures, showing a greater tolerance to heat and an ability to photosynthesize efficiently under intense light. Unlike its coastal counterparts, it maintains lower respiration rates in moist and warm conditions, indicating a more conservative use of water. These characteristics contribute to its distinct distribution, favouring the warm and light-abundant habitats of the Spanish badlands. [5]
A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. Lichens are important actors in nutrient cycling and act as producers which many higher trophic feeders feed on, such as reindeer, gastropods, nematodes, mites, and springtails. Lichens have properties different from those of their component organisms. They come in many colors, sizes, and forms and are sometimes plant-like, but are not plants. They may have tiny, leafless branches (fruticose); flat leaf-like structures (foliose); grow crust-like, adhering tightly to a surface (substrate) like a thick coat of paint (crustose); have a powder-like appearance (leprose); or other growth forms.
Páramo may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower term classifies the páramo according to its regional placement in the northern Andes of South America and adjacent southern Central America. The páramo is the ecosystem of the regions above the continuous forest line, yet below the permanent snowline. It is a "Neotropical high mountain biome with a vegetation composed mainly of giant rosette plants, shrubs and grasses". According to scientists, páramos may be "evolutionary hot spots", that meaning that it's among the fastest evolving regions on Earth.
The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, although members occur predominantly in subtropical and temperate regions. Although most members are lichens that either live on rock or on bark, about 40 species are lichenicolous – meaning they are non-lichenised fungi that live on other lichens. Many members of the Teloschistaceae are readily identifiable by their vibrant orange to yellow hue, a result of their frequent anthraquinone content. The presence of these anthraquinone pigments, which confer protection from ultraviolet light, enabled this group to expand from shaded forest habitats to harsher environmental conditions of sunny and arid ecosystems during the Late Cretaceous.
Seirophora is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has eight species. The genus was circumscribed by Czech lichenologist Josef Poelt in 1983, with Seirophora magara assigned as the type species. Several species were transferred to Seirophora in 2004 when the genus was emended by Patrik Frödén and Per Lassen to include some species segregated from Teloschistes.
A fruticose lichen is a form of lichen fungi that is characterized by a coral-like shrubby or bushy growth structure. It is formed from a symbiotic relationship of a photobiont such as green algae or less commonly cyanobacteria and one, two or more mycobionts. Fruticose lichens are not a monophyletic and holophyletic lineage, but is a form encountered in many classes. Fruticose lichens have a complex vegetation structure, and are characterized by an ascending, bushy or pendulous appearance. As with other lichens, many fruticose lichens can endure high degrees of desiccation. They grow slowly and often occur in habitats such as on tree barks, on rock surfaces and on soils in the Arctic and mountain regions.
Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the substrate, making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichens consists of a cortex layer, an algal layer, and a medulla. The upper cortex layer is differentiated and is usually pigmented. The algal layer lies beneath the cortex. The medulla fastens the lichen to the substrate and is made up of fungal hyphae. The surface of crustose lichens is characterized by branching cracks that periodically close in response to climatic variations such as alternate wetting and drying regimes.
Lichens are symbiotic organisms made up of multiple species: a fungus, one or more photobionts and sometimes a yeast. They are regularly grouped by their external appearance – a characteristic known as their growth form. This form, which is based on the appearance of vegetative part of the lichen, varies depending on the species and the environmental conditions it faces. Those who study lichens (lichenologists) have described a dozen of these forms: areolate, byssoid, calicioid, cladoniform, crustose, filamentous, foliose, fruticose, gelatinous, leprose, placoidioid and squamulose. Traditionally, crustose (flat), foliose (leafy) and fruticose (shrubby) are considered to be the three main forms. In addition to these more formalised, traditional growth types, there are a handful of informal types named for their resemblance to the lichens of specific genera. These include alectorioid, catapyrenioid, cetrarioid, hypogymnioid, parmelioid and usneoid.
Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, sometimes referred to as the gold-eye lichen or golden-eye, is a fruticose lichen with branching lobes. Their sexual structures, apothecia, are bright-orange with spiny projections situated around the rim.
Jan Eric Ingvar Kärnefelt is a Swedish lichenologist.
Otto Ludwig Lange was a German botanist and lichenologist. The focus of his scientific work was on the ecophysiology of wild and cultivated plants as well as lichens. He investigated heat, frost and drought resistance of lichens, bryophytes and vascular plants growing under extreme environmental conditions.
Calogaya pusilla is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It was originally formally described in 1852 by Italian lichenologist Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo, who placed it in genus Physcia. The type specimen was collected in Veneto, Italy. It has undergone several changes of genus in its taxonomic history, including transfers to Caloplaca, Placodium, and Teloschistes. In 2013, it was placed in the newly circumscribed genus Calogaya.
Amundsenia austrocontinentalis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae, and the type species of genus Amundsenia. Found in Antarctica, it was formally described as a new species in 2014 by Isaac Garrido-Benavent, Ulrik Søchting, Sergio Pérez-Ortega, and Rod Seppelt. The type specimen was collected by the last author from Mule Peninsula, where it was found growing on small stones in glacial till. The species epithet austrocontinentalis refers to its distribution in continental Antarctica.
Thomas George Allan Green is a lichenologist, terrestrial ecologist and botanist. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. His work particularly studies how lichens respond to extreme low temperatures and dryness, and especially how this affects photosynthesis. He has studied the ecology of Antarctica.
Niorma is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has six fruticose species, with N. derelicta assigned as the type species. The genus was originally proposed by Italian lichenologist Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo in 1861, but this and several other genera he proposed were largely ignored by later contemporaries. As part of a molecular phylogenetics-led restructuring of the teloschistoid clade of the subfamily Xanthorioideae in the Teloschistaceae, Sergey Kondratyuk and colleagues resurrected the genus for use about 150 years later. Genus Niorma comprises what was previously known as a species complex centred around the taxon previously known as Teloschistes hypoglaucus.
Gondwania is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the subfamily Xanthorioideae of the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species. The genus was circumscribed by lichenologists Ulrik Søchting, Patrik Frödén, and Ulf Arup. The type species is G. cribrosa, a species that was first named Polycauliona cribrosa by Auguste-Marie Hue in 1909. The genus name refers to the ancestral supercontinent Gondwana.
Placomaronea kaernefeltii is a rare species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen in the family Candelariaceae. Found in South America, it was formally described as a new species in 2009 by lichenologists Martin Westberg, Patrik Frödén, and Mats Wedin. The type specimen was collected by the second author from Arica (Chile), between Socoroma and Putre, at an altitude of 3,750 m (12,300 ft), where it was found growing along cracks and pits on a siliceous boulder in a dry mountain slope. The lichen is only known to occur at its type locality, although the authors suggest a wider distribution is likely. The species epithet honours Swedish lichenologist Ingvar Kärnefelt.
Placomaronea minima is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Candelariaceae. Found in South America and Southern Africa, it was formally described as a new species in 2009 by lichenologists Martin Westberg and Patrik Frödén. The type specimen was collected by the second author from the Santiago Metropolitan Region (Chile) at an altitude of about 1,200 m (3,900 ft), where it was found growing on rocks on a hill outside of San José de Maipo. The species epithet minima refers to its small size.
Teloschistes peruensis is a species of terricolous (ground-dwelling) fruticose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found only in a few small areas in Peru and Chile. It has been assessed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to its small population, limited geographic range, and various threats.
Xanthaptychia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. The genus, circumscribed in 2017, has three corticolous (bark-dwelling) species.
Sirenophila maccarthyi is a species of corticolous/lignicolous, crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It has a thallus that is whitish or greyish, often inconspicuous and not always continuous, which can appear darker or dirty grey near its numerous, clustered apothecia. Sirenophila maccarthyi is distributed across regions including Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand, in both coastal and inland habitats. It typically grows on the bark and dead wood of a wide range of trees and shrubs such as Acacia sophorae, Araucaria excelsa, and various Eucalyptus species.