Biodiversity and ecology of lichens of Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Abstract

We inventoried lichens in Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska, USA We assembled the known information on occurrence and ecology of lichens in this park by combining field, herbarium, and literature studies. Our results provide baseline data on lichen occurrence that may be used in resource condition assessments, vulnerability assessments, long-term ecological monitoring, and resource management. We report a total of 616 taxa of lichenized fungi from the Park, plus an additional five subspecies and three varieties, all of which are new additions to the National Park Service database for this park unit. An additional five species of nonlichenized lichenicolous fungi are reported here. Eight non-lichenized fungi that are traditionally treated with lichens are also included, most of these associated with bark of particular host species. Four taxa new to North America are reported here (Arctomia delicatula var. acutior, Aspicilia dudinensis, Myriospora myochroa, and Ochrolechia bahusiensis), along with 44 species new to Alaska. Numerous species have been confirmed using ITS barcoding sequences. Also several records assigned to the genus level are reported, many of those are likely new species.