We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
The ecology of lichenicolous lichens: a case-study in Italy.
- Authors
Nimis, Pier Luigi; Pittao, Elena; Caramia, Monica; Pitacco, Piero; Martellos, Stefano; Muggia, Lucia
- Abstract
This paper, with Italy as a case-study, provides a general overview on the ecology of lichenicolous lichens, i.e. those which start their life-cycle on the thallus of other lichens. It aims at testing whether some ecological factors do exert a positive selective pressure on the lichenicolous lifestyle. The incidence of some biological traits (photobionts, growth-forms and reproductive strategies) in lichenicolous and non-lichenicolous lichens was compared, on a set of 3005 infrageneric taxa potentially occurring in Italy, 189 of which are lichenicolous. Lichenicolous lichens have a much higher incidence of coccoid (non-trentepohlioid) green algae, crustose growth-forms and sexual reproduction. A matrix of the 2762 species with phycobionts and some main ecological descriptors was subjected to ordination. Lichenicolous lichens occupy a well-defined portion of the ecological space, tending to grow on rocks in dry, well-lit habitats where a germinating spore is likely to have a short life-span, at all altitudes. This corroborates the hypothesis that at least some of them are not true "parasites", as they are often called, but gather the photobionts - which have already adapted to local ecological conditions - from their hosts, eventually developing an independent thallus.
- Subjects
ITALY; LICHENICOLOUS fungi; LICHENS; FUNGAL ecology; GREEN algae; THALLUS
- Publication
MycoKeys, 2024, Issue 105, p253
- ISSN
1314-4057
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3897/mycokeys.105.121001