The Lichen Genus Sticta (Lobariaceae, Peltigerales) in East African Montane Ecosystems

Ulla Kaasalainen; Paul M Kirika; Neduvoto P Mollel; Andreas Hemp; Jouko Rikkinen

doi:10.3390/jof9020246

The Lichen Genus Sticta (Lobariaceae, Peltigerales) in East African Montane Ecosystems

J Fungi (Basel). 2023 Feb 12;9(2):246. doi: 10.3390/jof9020246.

Authors

Ulla Kaasalainen^{1

2}, Paul M Kirika³, Neduvoto P Mollel⁴, Andreas Hemp⁵, Jouko Rikkinen^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 7, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
² Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstraße 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
³ National Museums of Kenya, East African Herbarium, Museum Hill Road, P.O. Box 45166, Nairobi 00100, Kenya.
⁴ National Herbarium, Tropical Pesticides Research Institute, P.O. Box 3024, Arusha 23201, Tanzania.
⁵ Department of Plant Systematics, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
⁶ Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

The lichen flora of Africa is still poorly known. In many parts of the tropics, recent studies utilizing DNA methods have revealed extraordinary diversity among various groups of lichenized fungi, including the genus Sticta. In this study, East African Sticta species and their ecology are reviewed using the genetic barcoding marker nuITS and morphological characters. The studied regions represent montane areas in Kenya and Tanzania, including the Taita Hills and Mt. Kilimanjaro, which belong to the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot. Altogether 14 Sticta species are confirmed from the study region, including the previously reported S. fuliginosa, S. sublimbata, S. tomentosa, and S. umbilicariiformis. Sticta andina, S. ciliata, S. duplolimbata, S. fuliginoides, and S. marginalis are reported as new to Kenya and/or Tanzania. Sticta afromontana, S. aspratilis, S. cellulosa, S. cyanocaperata, and S. munda, are described as new to science. The abundance of new diversity detected and the number of taxa represented by only few specimens show that more comprehensive sampling of the region may be needed to reveal the true diversity of Sticta in East Africa. More generally, our results highlight the need for further taxonomic studies of lichenized fungi in the region.

Keywords: Ascomycota; Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot; Eastern Arc; Mt. Elgon; Mt. Kasigau; Mt. Kilimanjaro; Taita Hills; lichenized fungi; molecular phylogeny; nuITS.

Abstract

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