Foliicolous lichens and their lichenicolous fungi from Ecuador, with a comparison of lowland and montane rain forest

Abstract

Lücking, R.: Foliicolous lichens and their lichenicolous fungi from Ecuador, with a comparison of lowland and montane rain forest. — Willdenowia 29: 299–335. 1999. — ISSN 0511-9618.A rich collection of foliicolous lichens from Ecuador gathered at the Biological Stations Jatun Satcha and Guajalito, two representative localities in the lowland and the montane rain forest, yielded a total of 297 species, including 15 facultatively foliicolous taxa and 11 lichenicolous fungi. Twelve species are described as new: Aspidothelium mirabile, A. ornatum, A. scutellicarpum [= Aspidopyrenium insigne var. dispersum], Asterothyrium gigantosporum, A. longisporum, Dimerella vezdana, Gyalideopsis albopruinosa, Porina napensis, P. pichinchensis, Psorotheciopsis guajalitensis, Tapellaria marcellae and Tricharia verrucifera. Furthermore, the new combination Porina repanda [≡ Verrucaria repanda] is made. Species diversity is the second highest known in the world, after Costa Rica with approximately 380 species. Species composition is remarkably similar to that of Costa Rica, which exhibits a similar landscape physiognomy. However, the lowland rain forest of Ecuador still remains undercollected. The lowland and the montane rain forest sites differ markedly in their foliicolous lichen flora. Arthonia, Aspidothelium, Echinoplaca, Mazosia and Gyalideopsis are the most discriminative genera between the two forest types with respect to diversity and species composition.