Lichens in montane, forested ecosystems of the Intermountain West and central Rocky Mountains tend to be understudied. Focusing on forested ecosystems in Utah, specifically Santaquin and Payson Canyons, we describe lichen community diversity and composition and their relation to percent aspen cover, and contrast lichens in aspen, non-aspen hardwood and coniferous environments. We collected 351 macrolichens, a total of 34 species and 15 genera, from 22 circular plots with a 34.7 m radius. We found three major gradients in lichen community composition in our study area. First, many species of Xanthomendoza had strong positive correlations with increasing aspen cover, while several Melanohalea species declined with greater aspen cover. Xanthomendoza galericulata was a significant indicator for aspen forests, but this lichen was not limited to aspen as it colonizes various barks flexibly. Second, corticolous and saxicolous taxa positively associated with a trend in lichen species richness, while terricolous lichens associated with the opposite end of this gradient. The third and weakest gradient was related to the cover of non-aspen hardwoods and the presence of fruticose species. Both lichen community composition and species richness differed significantly among aspen, non-aspen hardwood and conifer-dominated forests. In agreement with previous work in other regions, the non-aspen hardwood forests we sampled supported the most diverse and prolific lichen communities. Lichens of our aspen forests are as diverse as those in conifer-dominated forests, which contrasts with some current literature suggesting that aspen woodlands represent hotspots of diversity for many types of flora and fauna. Our finding that aspen-dwelling lichens markedly contrast with lichens on other substrates, including other hardwoods, contributes to our understanding of lichen community composition in arid, montane forests of the central Rocky Mountains.

Brachythecium pseudouematsui Nog. is proposed to be conspecific with B. sakuraii Broth. based on morphological observations and the study of the type material of both taxa; the name B. sakuraii takes priority. A description is included of B.sakuraii, which is rare and endemic to Japan, complemented by photographic illustrations and a discussion of its distinction from other morphologically similar species.

Element analysis was conducted on naturally-growing Flavoparmelia caperata (L.) Hale and Punctelia rudecta (Ach.) Krog (26 sites) in 2003–05 for a 30-year resurvey of forest lichen communities near a power plant in Wisconsin. Cu, Cr, N, and S increased strongly with power plant impact (66 samples, both species) and are good candidate bioindicators for local pollution; Al and Fe increased weakly and are not recommended. Hg is a candidate pollution indicator from comparison with a background site (only F. caperata data: 39 samples, 23 sites). Only N and S were correlated with lichen species abundance and are thus candidate bioindicators for lichen response. Abundance of P. rudecta was lower and that of Phaeophyscia pusilloides (Zahlbr.) Essl. was higher with more N or S in lichens; abundances of F. caperata and large foliose species as a group were lower with higher modeled SO₂ from the power plant (no response from four other tested lichen species or groups). Sites in more forested landscapes to the west of the power plant had more lichen species, including disturbance-sensitive taxa. Heathier lichens there may have led to higher concentrations of Al, Cr, and S, plus Li (only F. caperata data). Univariate general linear modeling (GLM) was more useful than regression to test species effect at 7 sites. Element analysis confirmed earlier records of minimal power plant impact on lichens in this area, where no truly pollution-sensitive lichen species have been recorded for decades.

Discovery of a new species of Trapelia and one of Ainoa prompted a taxonomic revision of saxicolous, esorediate members of the genera Ainoa and Trapelia that occur in North America north of Mexico. In addition to the description of A. bella and T. stipitata, both from eastern North America, revised descriptions and distributions are presented for T. coarctata and T. glebulosa. All of the species are illustrated, and A. mooreana (syn. T. mooreana) is excluded from the North American checklist.