Lichen Biodiversity in Slovenia

The actual stage of investigation of the lichens and lichenicolous fungi of Slovenia was presented by an annotated catalogue. Further field investigations resulted in various papers dealing with the lichen biodiversity of certain regions. A database on lichens and lichenicolous fungi of Slovenia accessible via Internet was developed. The annotated catalogue is based on a comprehensive compilation of literature data (approximately 12,200 records from more than 170 original papers). The known flora is composed of 860 taxa that includes 787 species of lichenized fungi with 9 subspecies, 22 varieties, 2 forms and 40 lichenicolous fungi (39 species and 1 variety). 24 non-lichenized fungi, which are traditionally included in the lichenological literature are mentioned. For each taxon references are listed according to the phytogeographical regions and known substrates are provided. The alpine phytogeographical region (southeastern outposts of the Eastern and Southern Alps) is the part of the country with the highest biodiversity (602 known taxa) followed by the Dinaric region (portions of the Dinaric mountains) with 532 known taxa. Growing knowledge about biodiversity is of great impact for understanding environmental influences on our life. Stability and predictability of ecosystem functions are directly correlated to the number of species present in an ecosystem. The interesting results from two of five biodiversity studies are mentioned in detail. These results are not included in the catalogue. The lichen flora of the peak of Veliki Sneznik and the uppermost northern slopes are investigated for the first time. 110 saxicolous, terricolous and muscicolous taxa (including 4 lichenicolous fungi) are recorded. 36 taxa (including 4 lichenicolous fungi) are new to Slovenia and another 14 are new for the Dinaric phytogeographical region. In addition 67 corticolous and lignicolous taxa including two new species for Slovenia are mentioned mainly from the forests of the north-exposed slopes of the peak. The limestone cliffs of Crni Kal on the edge of the Karst plateau are also investigated for the first time. The currently known flora is composed of 121 taxa that includes 112 lichenized and 9 lichenicolous fungi. 44 taxa of lichenized and 8 of lichenicolous fungi are new to Slovenia and further 14 are new to the submediterranean phytogeographical region.