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New lichen species described from the canopy of inland temperate rainforests.
Tony Spribille and his colleagues, Trevor Goward and Curtis Björk from B.C., have been studying inland temperate rainforest for years. They have so far identified 13 lichen species new
to science at several different locations within B.C.’s inland temperate rainforest. They say there are more to come — scores more. In several recent studies, they have found that there are more species of tree-dwelling lichens in old-growth cedar-hemlock forests than of trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses and mosses combined. Indeed, they have found that these forests support one of the richest epiphytic lichen floras in the world.
This is by far the longest list of lichen diversity ever published in western North America for an area of comparable size,” says Spribille. “Such levels of lichen diversity and rates of discovery of new species are basically unparalleled in northern conifer forests — even in coastal temperate rainforest,” says Spribille. “We are definitely looking at a major center of lichen diversity at a global level that we haven’t even begun to fathom or explain.”
Excerpt from:
Sherrod, A. 2007.
The Incomappleux Discoveries. Three lichen species new to the country, three new to the continent, and nine new to the world. Menziesia. 12(3): 1-6.
Document in pdf format (1073 kb)
For additional informatuion see:
Spribille, T., C.R. Bjork, S. Ekman, J.A. Elix, T. Goward, C. Printzen, T. Tonsberg, and Tim Wheeler. 2009.
Contributions to an epiphytic lichen flora of northwest North America: I. Eight new species from British Columbia's inland rainforests. The Bryologist 112: 109-137.
Pertusaria diluta, seen under a microscope, is one of nine new-to-science lichens recently
discovered in the Incomappleux River valley. P. diluta is grayish green with pink fruiting bodies. Each fruiting body is about 0.03 mm wide. (from Sherrod 2007)
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