Abstract Detail

Recent Topics Posters

Kocourková, Jana [1].

Lichenicolous fungi of Joshua Tree National Park.

Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California encompasses the Sonoran and the southwestern Mojave Deserts with annual rainfall averages of 2 to 4 inches. Until recently this area has never been explored for lichens and lichenicolous fungi. In our research we found a surprisingly high lichen diversity for an exceptionally dry desert ecosystem (145 taxa). The ratio of lichenicolous fungi to lichens in areas we have previously surveyed was 10 to 15%. We found ca. 50 lichenicolous taxa for 145 lichen species, representing a ratio of nearly 35%. Only 17 species had been previously described. The remaining species are apparently new for science. The first taxon to be described is the lichenicolous lichen Dimelaena lichenicola, growing on relictual populations of Dimelaena oreina on desert mountain tops. The most common hosts belong to the genera Acarospora, Aspicilia, Caloplaca, Circinaria and Xanthoparmelia. Lichenicolous fungi follow the distribution of lichens with the highest diversity in western part of Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert where rainfall was the highest. Overall Joshua Tree National Park has been undisturbed by human activity. This suggests that the high ratio of lichenicolous fungi to lichens is the result the long term ecological continuity of Joshua Tree National Park.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, CZ–165 21, Czech Republic

Keywords:
biodiversity
California
Dimelaena lichenicola
ecological continuity
Mojave Desert.

Presentation Type: Recent Topics Poster
Session: P
Location: Grand Salon A - D/Riverside Hilton
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2013
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PRT021
Abstract ID:1312
Candidate for Awards:None