TheSticta filixmorphodeme (Ascomycota:Lobariaceae) in New Zealand with the newly recognized speciesS. dendroidesandS. menziesii: indicators of forest health in a threatened island biota?

Abstract

We present a phylogenetic revision of the Sticta filix morphodeme in New Zealand. This non-monophyletic group of early diverging clades in the genus Sticta is characterized by a stalked thallus with a green primary photobiont and the frequent formation of a dendriscocauloid cyanomorph. Traditionally, three species have been distinguished in New Zealand: S. filix (Sw.) Nyl., S. lacera (Hook. f. & Taylor) Müll. Arg. and S. latifrons A. Rich., with two cyanomorphs separated under the names Dendriscocaulon dendriothamnodes Dughi ex D. J. Galloway (traditionally associated with S. latifrons) and D. dendroides (Nyl.) R. Sant. ex H. Magn. (traditionally associated with S. filix). Sticta lacera was not included in the present study due to the lack of authentic material (all specimens originally identified under that name and sequenced clustered with S. filix); S. filix was confirmed as a distinct species whereas S. latifrons s. lat. was shown to represent two unrelated species, S. latifrons s. str. and the reinstated S. menziesii Hook. f. & Taylor. The cyanomorphs of S. filix and S. latifrons are not conspecific with the types of the names D. dendriothamnodes and D. dendroides, respectively; the D. dendriothamnodes cyanomorph belongs to the Australian taxon Sticta stipitata C. Knight ex F. Wilson, which is not present in New Zealand, whereas the D. dendroides cyanomorph corresponds to a previously unrecognized species with unknown chloromorph, recombined here as Sticta dendroides (Nyl.) Moncada, Lücking & de Lange. Thus, instead of three species (S. filix, S. lacera, S. latifrons) with their corresponding cyanomorphs, five species are now distinguished in this guild in New Zealand: S. dendroides (cyanomorph only), S. filix (chloro- and cyanomorph), S. lacera (chloromorph only), S. latifrons (chloro- and cyanomorph) and S. menziesii (chloro- and cyanomorph). A key is presented for identification of the chloromorphs and the dendriscocauloid cyanomorphs of all species. Semi-quantitative analysis suggests that species in this guild are good indicators of intact forest ecosystems in New Zealand and that the two newly recognized species, S. dendroides and S. menziesii, appear to perform particularly well in this respect. The use of lichens as bioindicators of environmental health is not yet established in New Zealand and so, based on our results, we make the case to develop this approach more thoroughly.

Species delimitation in the cyanolichen genus Rostania

“…Many cyanolichen groups related to Rostania have recently been the subject of major studies, where substantial amounts of overlooked biodiversity has been recovered. Examples include large foliose lichen groups such as Pseudocyphellaria [32,33] Sticta [34] and Peltigera [35] but also more closely related groups in the Collemataceae like Leptogium [36]. Considering the substantial morphological variation and the indications from our earlier phylogenetic studies, Rostania is likely to contain several yet unrecognised species, even in a well-documented area like Europe.…”

“…Both GMYC and BPP have been applied to many animal and plant groups (e.g., [44][45][46][47][48][49][50]) as well as in studies of fungi including lichens (e.g. [34,[51][52][53][54][55][56]).…”

Cophylogenetic patterns in algal symbionts correlate with repeated symbiont switches during diversification and geographic expansion of lichen-forming fungi in the genus Sticta (Ascomycota, Peltigeraceae)

“…However, all three species also associated with other algae, namely Chloroidium and Elliptochloris, although our results indicate that S. latifrons seems to prefer Heveochlorella over other algal partners, as the majority of specimens from this species had Heveochlorella as a photobiont. Sticta latifrons was recently analyzed as a potential indicator of old-growth forest in New Zealand (Ranft et al, 2018), and photobiont choice may depend on microhabitat in this species. Also, S. latifrons frequently alternates with a dendriscocauloid cyanomorphs, requiring reassociation with green algae during its life cycle, which may favor a lower level of green-algal photobiont selectivity.…”

Elucidating species richness in lichen fungi: The genusSticta(Ascomycota: Peltigeraceae) in Puerto Rico

“…It has 200 species currently described (Lücking & al., 2017a), but more than 500 species are estimated to occur worldwide (Moncada & al., 2013c). Together with other Peltigeraceae, Sticta species are excellent indicators of ecosystem health, and in many areas their diversity is threatened by land use change (Kalwij & al., 2005; Werth & al., 2006; Ranft & al., 2018).…”