The genus Lepraria (Stereocaulaceae, lichenized Ascomycota) in Belarus

Abstract

Abstract:Based on an examination of 360 herbarium specimens of the genus Lepraria, this study deals with their morphology, secondary chemistry, habitat requirements and distribution in Belarus. Nine taxa have been accepted, of which L. ecorticata, L. finkii and L. rigidula are new to the country. L. incana appears to be the commonest species in the country (48% of the studied specimens).

Distribution of Lichen Species of the Genus Lepraria in the Knyszyn Forest (Ne Poland) in Different Forest Plant Communities

“…It prefers forests, especially well-insolated and rather dry pine and spruce forests (Kukwa 2003). Similar ecology was also reported for Belarus by Tsurykau et al (2016). In Estonia, L. jackii is mainly epiphytic, preferring neutral substrate, and L. elobata belongs to the epiphyte group together with L. jackii but is more often acidophytic (Saag 2007 Notes.…”

“…and Alnus glutinosa. Tsurykau et al (2016) recorded L. incana mostly in coniferous forests (96% of the studied material) of varying insolation and humidity. In Estonia the old spruce-dominated forests may be especially suitable for L. incana on account of the shade, relatively high humidity, and low pH of spruce bark (Saag 2007).…”

“…The species has a rather wide habitat amplitude but prefers mediumacidic to basic substrates (Kukwa 2003(Kukwa , 2006; it grows on tree bark, concrete and rocks. The species has a boreal distribution (Tsurykau et al 2016). It is common lichen in Estonian old-growth forests (Saag 2007).…”

“…Molecular studies by Ekman and Tønsberg (2002) confirmed that it belongs to the family Stereocaulaceae. The genus Lepraria has been examined for the British Isles (Laundon 1992;Orange 1995), Norway (Tønsberg 1992(Tønsberg , 2002, Finland (Lohtander 1994(Lohtander , 1995, Sweden (Lindblom 1995), Germany (Wirth & Heklau 1995), Estonia (Saag & Saag 1999), North America (Tønsberg 2004(Tønsberg , 2007, Australia , Belarus (Golubkov & Kukwa 2006;Tsurykau et al 2016), Italy (Zedda 2000, Baruffo et al 2006, South America (Flakus & Kukwa 2007, Bungartz et al 2013, Greenland ), South Korea (Joshi et al 2010) and Latvia (Mežaka et al 2012).…”

Contribution to the knowledge of lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi of Gomel region (Belarus)

“…Furthermore, the genera Cetrelia, Hypotrachyna, Lepraria, Parmotrema and Punctelia as well as cup-shaped species of the genus Cladonia were revised (Bely et al, 2014;Tsurykau et al, , 2016a. With these additions, currently known lichen biota of Gomel region includes about 400 species.…”