Abstract
Species recognition in lichen-forming fungi has been a challenge because of unsettled species concepts, few taxonomically relevant traits, and limitations of traditionally used morphological and chemical characters for identifying closely related species. Here we analyze species diversity in the cosmopolitan genus Protoparmelia s.l. The ~25 described species in this group occur across diverse habitats from the boreal -arctic/alpine to the tropics, but their relationship to each other remains unexplored. In this study, we inferred the phylogeny of 18 species currently assigned to this genus based on 160 specimens and six markers: mtSSU, nuLSU, ITS, RPB1, MCM7, and TSR1. We assessed the circumscription of species-level lineages in Protoparmelia s. str. using two coalescent-based species delimitation methods – BP&P and spedeSTEM. Our results suggest the presence of a tropical and an extra-tropical lineage, and eleven previously unrecognized distinct species-level lineages in Protoparmelia s. str. Several cryptic lineages were discovered as compared to phenotype-based species delimitation. Many of the putative species are supported by geographic evidence.
Highlights
Lichens are symbiotic organisms consisting of a fungal partner, one or more photosynthetic partners, and diverse bacterial communities [2]
Most species of Protoparmelia belong to Protoparmelia s. str., consisting of a tropical and an extra-tropical clade
Our analyses suggest that the sampled specimens of the tropical Protoparmelia s. str. group belong to five distinct species
Summary
Lichens are symbiotic organisms consisting of a fungal partner (mycobiont), one or more photosynthetic partners (photobionts; [1]), and diverse bacterial communities [2]. Lichens contribute to ecosystem functioning by nutrient recycling [3], weathering rocks, preventing soil erosion, and acting as pioneer species in barren areas. They inhabit diverse ecosystems from the arctic to the tropics and commonly form an integral part of terrestrial biodiversity [4]. Almost one fifth of all known fungi and half of all ascomycetes are lichenized, consisting of approximately 28,000 species worldwide [6,7]. In the basidiolichen fungus Dictyonema glabratum a single taxon was found to be composed of at least 126 species [9], showing a tremendous amount of unexplored diversity in lichen-forming fungi
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