Biatoridium lasiothecium is described as new to science from southeastern North America. The species differs from B. delitescens and B. monasteriense in the shaggy appearance of the ascomata, due to the elongation of individual paraphyses. A taxonomic key to morphologically similar, polysporous species, as well as other North American lichenized and non-lichenized fungi traditionally included in Biatorella, is provided. A new combination is made for Strangospora cyphalea (≡ B. cyphalea).

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) were sampled by habitat types within and adjacent to the Orchard Combat Training Center (OCTC) in southwest Idaho, U.S.A. Plots consisting of a 34.7 m radius circle, approximately equal to one acre or 0.38 hectares were sampled. We focused on five native vascular plant-dominated current habitat types within the OCTC, including: 1) Wyoming sagebrush, 2) saltbush, 3) rabbitbrush, 4) winterfat, and 5) Sandberg bluegrass. We describe how BSC cover and species richness varied with habitat types in the study area. We recorded the relative abundance of BSCs and vascular plant species and collected voucher specimens for each BSC. The biodiversity of each BSC in these arid habitat types was much greater than many ecologists have assumed. We found a total of 68 species of BSC across all 17 plots. BSC cover differed significantly across the different habitat types. BSC cover was significantly higher in sagebrush and saltbush as compared with Poa, rabbitbrush and winterfat habitat types. Overall, there was substantially more BSC richness (17–47 species) than vascular plant richness (4– 13 species), and BSC richness was positively related to vascular plant richness (R²=0.18, p=0.041). On average, each additional plant species was associated with 1.36 additional BSC species. BSC communities also varied across the habitat types with Buellia punctata as a significant indicator species for sagebrush, Toninia sedifolia for saltbush, and Cladonia pocillum for winterfat. Several BSC species were associated with 2 or 3 habitat types; for example, Cladonia fimbriata, Diploschistes muscorum, Leptogium lichenoides, Massalongia carnosa, Riccia sorocarpa and Trapeliopsis steppica were most common in the sagebrush, Poa, and rabbitbrush habitats. In contrast, Caloplaca tominii, Endocarpon loscosii, Placidium squamulosum and Psora tuckermanii were most common in winterfat and saltbush habitats.

In an investigation of Circinaria species in volcanic mountains of northeast China, one new species, C. laxilobata was identified based on morphological characteristics and DNA sequence data. The new species differs morphologically from other members of the C. contorta group by its greenish olive, thin thallus with dispersed areoles and elongated, diverging, branching marginal areoles distinctly delimited from the inner part, round apothecia with entire thalline margin, moniliform paraphyses, asci with 1–2 ellipsoid spores, and the absence of secondary metabolites. Comparisons of the ITS sequences of the nuclear ribosomal DNA repeat tandem, both in phylogenetic analyses and secondary structure models of ITS2, support the taxonomic distinctness of this species. The new species is described and illustrated in detail. A key to the species of Circinaria from China is also provided.

Chaenotheca longispora is described as a new species from the central coast of California, U.S.A. It is similar in morphology to C. laevigata but is distinguished by the long (up to 25 µm) and spirally ornamented ascospores as well as chemically by the PD+ orange and K+ yellow reaction of the thallus. Thus far, C. longispora has been collected only from the crowns of large coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) trees in Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, where it occurs on the thick, fibrous bark of the trunks. A key to Chaenotheca species in North America, including C. longispora, is provided.

In plants, hybridization between interspecific taxa leading to chromosome doubling seems to happen regularly and may be an important driver of speciation. Allopolyploid species often have morphological traits from both parents, broader ecological niches, and are hypothesized to be more common going northwards. About 20% of all Sphagnum species have been inferred to be allopolyploids. Here we describe the first allotriploid Sphagnum species in the northern hemisphere, using molecular data, Feulgen densitometry, and morphological examination. Our molecular data also supports the finding of the first polyploid species with inter-subgeneric origin between Acutifolia and Subsecunda. Morphological examination further supports this finding. The Acutifolia progenitor is likely the maternal parent of the new species, named S. ×lydiae, and it is probably S. incundum, S. ×arcticum or S. ×olafii. The Subsecunda parent could not be identified based on molecular and morphological characters. The currently known distribution of S. ×lydiae is confined to regions with arctic and subarctic climate and tundra vegetation in northern Russia.

Twelve new lichenized species are described in Arthoniales and Ostropales from seasonally dry tropical forest in Mexico: eight in Graphidaceae, one in Gomphillaceae, and one each in Arthoniaceae, Roccellaceae, and Opegraphaceae. The new species are: Acanthothecis alba Herrera-Camp., Barcenas-Peña & Lücking, differing from A. poitaeoides in the erumpent to prominent ascomata with partially exposed disc and the relatively broader ascospores; Bactrospora lecanorina Herrera-Camp., Altamirano & Lücking, differing from the other species with patellarioides-type ascospores by the zeorine ascomata, in combination with narrow ascospores; Cryptothecia chamelensis Herrera-Camp., Bautista & Lücking, differing from C. inexpectata and C. irregularis in the perlatolic acid chemistry and the much smaller ascospores; Fissurina aperta Herrera-Camp., Barcenas-Peña & Lücking, differing from F. adscripturiens and F. novae-zelandiae by its exposed, disc and thin, erect margins; F. cinereodisca Altamirano, Colín & N.Sánchez, differing from F. furfuracea in the shorter ascomata with grey disc and thin, margin; F. jaliscoensis Herrera-Camp., Barcenas-Peña & Lücking, differing from F. subnitida in the shorter lirellae with exposed disc and thin margins; F. reticulata R. Miranda, Herrera Camp. & Lücking, differing from F. tuckermaniana by its muriform ascospores; F. tenuimarginata Herrera-Camp., Barcenas-Peña & Lücking, differing from F. cinereodisca in the smaller lirellae with yellowish-translucent disc and thinner margin; Gyalideopsis caespitosa Barcenas-Peña, Herrera-Camp. & Lücking, differing from other species of the genus in the initially zeorine apothecia and the sessile hyphophores with caespitose diahyphae; Ocellularia tomatlanensis Herrera-Camp., Colín & Lücking, differing from other Ocellularia species with small, transversely septate, hyaline ascospores and protocetraric acid by the absence of a columella; Phaeographis sarcographoides Herrera-Camp., N.Sánchez & Lücking, differing from other species of Phaeographis with inspersed hymenium, 3-septate ascospores, and lack of secondary substances, in the robust, prominent to sessile ascomata with often dissected disc; and Vigneronia mexicana Herrera-Camp., Bautista & Lücking, sp. nov., differing from V. spierii in the prominent to sessile ascomata with brown margin and light grey-pruinose disc. The new combination Vigneronia caceresiana (Kalb & Aptroot) Lücking & Herrera-Camp., comb. nov., is also proposed.

Lejeuneaceae is the largest family of liverworts with an estimated 1800 species in about 73 genera. The systematic position of a number of taxa in the family remains ambiguous owing to the lack of molecular data and morphological observations especially on oil bodies and ocelli in fresh samples. Drepanolejeunea brunnea Mizut. and Lepidolejeunea borneensis (Steph.) R.M.Schust. are two examples of these taxa. Here we investigate the phylogenetic relationships of these two species by using the nuclear ribosomal ITS region and two chloroplast regions (rbcL, trnL–trnF). The molecular data show that Drepanolejeunea brunnea and Lepidolejeunea borneensis form a well-supported clade unrelated to Drepanolejeunea (Spruce) Steph. and Lepidolejeunea R.M.Schust. On the basis of the combined molecular-phylogenetic and morphological data, a new genus in the subtribe Lepidolejeuneinae, Mohamedia R.L.Zhu et L.Shu, is described to accommodate Drepanolejeunea brunnea and Lepidolejeunea borneensis. Mohamedia is closely related to Otolejeunea Tixier endemic to Madagascar, but differs in the thinner stem with only 3(–4) rows of medullary cells, perianths with 4–5 crenulate to weakly dentate keels and without auricles, and lack of an unbroken row of ocelli in leaf lobes. Two new subgenera, Mohamedia subg. Mohamedia and Mohamedia subg. Piippolejeunea R.L.Zhu et L.Shu, are described and the new combinations (Mohamedia brunnea (Mizut.) R.L.Zhu et L.Shu and M. borneensis (Steph.) R.L.Zhu et L.Shu) are proposed.

There is an increasing use of bioclimatic models to quantify the climate change response of bryophytes and lichens. The physiological performance of these poikilohydric organisms depends on ambient climatic conditions interacting with light availability. However, bioclimatic models have tended to follow a common practice of selecting temperature/precipitation variables without reference to light as a key functional constraint. In this study a growth chamber simulation was used to reconstruct patterns of temperature-moisture-light for the baseline and 2080s climates, affecting the performance of the lichen Flavoparmelia caperata for a high-latitude (56°N) temperate rainforest study site in Britain. The results demonstrate the importance of increased 2080s warmth and moisture under low winter light (possibly favoring respiration), and increased dormancy during drier and warmer summers (possibly reducing photosynthesis), resulting in negative growth (mass loss) for future climates. This is in direct contrast to the outcome of bioclimatic models applied to the same study site, which project increased environmental suitability based on a warmer and wetter climate (not considering irradiance). The study cautions that predictors for bioclimatic models should be chosen to reflect verified constraints in ecological performance (such as for growth), and especially for poikilohydric organisms this would include the interaction between ambient climate and light availability.

Rinodina brauniana is described as new to science from collections made throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States (Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee). It appears to be widespread on corticolous substrates in deciduous forests throughout the region, occurring at sites spanning an elevation gradient of 285–1585 meters. The species differs from R. colobinoides in its pseudoisidiate, rather than blastidiate thallus. Ultrastructural studies of the pseudoisidia in R. brauniana demonstrated that they are apically ecorticate and thus unlike vegetative reproductive structures in other Rinodina species. Although rare, apothecia were located and ascospores were found to have an unusual type-B development that is most similar to Pachysporaria-type II. The new species honors E. Lucy Braun, pioneering American field biologist and champion of temperate eastern North American forests.

Usnea oreophila A.Gerlach & P.Clerc is described as new to science. This saxicolous species is characterized by a patchy, reddish, sometimes pale pigment above the jet-black basal pigmentation, branches with numerous cracks with downturned edges, numerous and sorediate fibercles, a thick and fistulose central axis, as well as by the production of a complex chemistry with squamatic acid as the main medullary compound. Usnea oreophila is currently known from high altitude grasslands above 1200 meters elevation above sea level in the states of Minas Gerais, Paraná and Santa Catarina.

The mitochondrial genomes of vascular plants are highly labile in both gene content and genome structure. In contrast, those of hornworts, liverworts, and mosses appear relatively stable over millions of years of evolution. All sequenced liverwort mitogenomes possess similar gene content and exactly the same gene order, except for that of Gymnomitrion concinnatum (Gymnomitriaceae, Jungermanniales), which is characterized by two rearrangements. To further explore the structural characteristic of liverworts mitogenomes, we sequenced and assembled the mitogenomes of representatives of two additional genera of liverworts, namely Bazzania tridens (Lepidoziaceae, Jungermanniales) and Riccardia planiflora (Metzgeriaceae, Metzgeriales). The two mitogenomes comprise 162,643 and 149,371 base pairs, respectively, and encode the set of 72 genes present in all other liverwort mitochondrial genomes. The mitogenome of Bazzania tridens contains seven fewer introns than that of Marchantia, and the simple thalloid Riccardia planiflora contains one additional intron. A total of 370 and 471 C to U RNA editing sites were predicted from the 42 mitochondrial protein-coding genes of B. tridens and R. planiflora, respectively. The phylogenetic placement of the two taxa based on the mitochondrial protein-coding genes of thirteen liverwort species is consistent with former studies. Although the two sampled taxa are only distantly related, their mitogenomes share a same gene order, which is, moreover, shared by the majority of liverworts, thereby strengthening the hypothesis of overall stasis of the liverwort mitogenomes.

The delimitation of species boundaries of tropical lichen-forming fungi remains relatively poorly known. Recent studies demonstrated higher species diversity in tropical areas than previously assumed. Here we focus on the genus Hypotrachyna, which is a speciose group of parmelioid lichens with a center of distribution in tropical areas and on collections made over the last decade in Kenya. We gathered DNA sequences of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), large subunit (nuLSU) and mitochondrial small subunit (mtSSU) from 136 samples and analyzed them in phylogenetic frameworks. Morphological, chemical and ecological features were re-evaluated. We show that several species that were supposed to have wide, intercontinental distributions consist of separate lineages. Consequently, three new species are described from Kenya: H. kenyana, H. meridionalis, and H. nyandaruaensis. Furthermore, the separation of H. meyeri from H. sinuosa is supported by molecular data and we propose to use the name H. imbricatula for Neotropical samples and H. orientalis for Paleotropical specimens of H. imbricatula s.l. Our study supports the hypothesis that distributional ranges in parmelioid lichens are more restricted than previously assumed.

Twenty lichen taxa are reported as new from Guinea-Bissau; one is new to continental Africa, seven are reported for the first time from western Africa and one is described here as new to science, namely Pertusaria guineabissauensis, which has eight hyaline, smooth-walled ascospore per ascus and contains stictic acid.