Abstract
In the framework of a worldwide project on the phylogeny of the lichen genus Sticta, dedicated sampling was performed in four regions of Western Europe, roughly along an east–west line between N 48°02′ E 07°01′ and N 52°01′ W 09°30′, ranging from France/Vosges to Ireland/Kerry. Five clearly distinct ITS haplotypes were detected for isidia-producing species where only two were expected. Subtle anatomical and morphological characters, together with a strongly supported 4-loci molecular phylogeny, permit distinguishing, besides the easily recognized S. canariensis and S. limbata: 1) the two well-known S. fuliginosa and S. sylvatica, whose type collections have been carefully reassessed; the former is widespread in both hemispheres, while the latter is correctly identified only from continental Europe and the Andes in Colombia. The barcode ITS of S. fuliginosa differs by a single substitution from S. limbata (with a single exception), and the 4-loci phylogenetic tree does not resolve them as distinct lineages, most probably highlighting a very recent divergence and incomplete lineage sorting. 2) Three species that were formely included in S. fuliginosa: the resurrected S. ciliata Taylor, belonging to a complex group yet to be disentangled and occurring in the Neotropics, Africa, Macaronesia, and Western Europe, and two species described as new to science, S. fuliginoides, found in continental Europe, the Canary Islands, eastern North America, and Colombia, and S. atlantica only known from Ireland and the Azores archipelago. Molecular inferences demonstrate active divergence and dispersion within S. ciliata that may require recognition of further species. Fresh material can be identified with a morphological and anatomical preliminary key provided here. We propose that the taxonomy of all lichen species be urgently reviewed in the light of molecular data in an evolutionary context, particularly those used as bioindicators of environmental change and woodland management.
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Acknowledgments
Field studies in several parts of the world were made possible with the help and advice of local authorities and colleagues, and we would like to mention in particular Rogerlala Andriamiandrisoa, Maarten Brand, Damien Ertz, Eberhard Fischer, Bernard Goffinet, Dorothee Killmann, Tahina Razafindrahaja, and Pieter van den Boom for our field trips in Africa (Congo RDC, Madagascar, Rwanda, and Reunion) and Jeff Malter and Pat Wolseley for the field trip in United Kingdom. Several specimens examined in this paper were also collected by colleagues from Brittany in France (B. Bouffinier, A. Gérault, and F. Séité) whose work and enthusiasm for lichenology can be consulted at http://www.lichensmaritimes.org/ and by Pat Wolseley: we thank them very warmly. We also received valuable material from Brian Coppins from Scotland, Pradeep Divakar from the Azores, Bernard Goffinet from USA/North Carolina and South Africa, Trevor Goward from Canada/British Columbia and Pieter van den Boom from the Canary Islands: we also thank them very warmly. We could examine type collections at the Herbarium of the University of Oxford (OXF), thanks to the warm welcome of Dr. Stephen Harris and Ms Serena Marner, and at the British Museum Herbarium (BM), thanks to the warm welcome of Dr. Holger Thues and Ms Pat Wolseley. The type material of Sticta fuliginosa f. ciliata Degel. could be examined via photographs sent to us by Dr. Stefan Ekman and Anders Nordin: we thank them very warmly. The type material of S. umbilicariiformis was made available by Dr. Leena Myllys and we also thank her very warmly. We further thank Ido Cremasco and Laurent Gohy for technical assistance in the molecular laboratory and herbarium at the University of Liège. This paper is a part of a large project on Sticta conducted with Bernard Goffinet, Robert Lücking, Bibiana Moncada and Thorsten Lumbsch and funded by the National Science Foundation (USA) under the title "Starting from scratch with Sticta: Evolution, diversification, and conservation of a megadiverse flagship lichen genus" (# DEB–1354631). We acknowledge the suggestions and data obtained from Dr. Bibiana Moncada and Dr. Robert Lücking at several stages of this study; without those data this work would have progressed with much more difficulties: we thus thank very warmly Bibiana and Robert for their support. When the data used in this study were assembled, Nicolas Magain was a Ph.D. Student at the University of Liège and acknowledges the financial support by FRIA, an organ of the Belgian Scientific Research Foundation. Finally we warmly thank both referees for their critical and helpful notes and suggestions.
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Magain, N., Sérusiaux, E. Dismantling the treasured flagship lichen Sticta fuliginosa (Peltigerales) into four species in Western Europe. Mycol Progress 14, 97 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-015-1109-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-015-1109-0