<i>MENEGAZZIA TEREBRATA</i> (PARMELIACEAE) AT THE NORTHERN BORDER OF ITS RANGE (KIVACH NATURE RESERVE, REPUBLIC OF KARELIA)

Abstract

Menegazzia terebrata is a foliose macrolichen listed in the Red Data Books of most European countries and in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. The species is stenotopic, for which the variety of suitable biotopes is limited; therefore, habitat disturbance under natural and anthropogenic factors is the main reason for decreasing its population. Most records of the species in European Russia were made in the mid 19th – mid 20th centuries. The purpose of this study was to assess the state of coenopopulations and ecological features of M. terebrata in the communities of the Kivach Nature Reserve (Republic of Karelia). The studies were carried out in the territory of Kivach Nature Reserve on sample plots of 625 m2, where general characteristics of plant communities and habitat characteristics were recorded. The size of each coenopopulation was determined as well as the coverage area on the surface of the substrate (cm2), the number of thalli, their ontogenetic state, associated species in lichen synusia. For the first time in the last 80 years, 4 habitats of M. terebrata were found on the territory of the Republic of Karelia. Based on literature and own data, a map of the species distribution in Northern Europe was compiled. The discovered population is the northernmost of all currently existing in the territory of the European part of Russia. M. terebrata prefers more shaded and humid conditions, occupying vertical surfaces of mossy rocks in deciduous forests with the last fire 93–120 years ago. The lichen occurs in communities with bryophytes, in lichen synusia with common species of shady habitats: Lepraria sp., Cystocoleus ebeneus, Peltigera sp. Totally 144 thalli of M. terebrata with a total area of 1228 cm2 were identified at four ontogenetic states assigned to two age periods: pregenerative (two variants of virginal state – \({{v}_{1}}\), \({{v}_{2}}\)), and postgenerative (subsenile – ss, senile – s). These coenopopulations follow the strategy of vegetative reproduction, as evidenced from the presence of soralia and fragmentation of the thalli. The size of the thalli and the predominance of virginal and subsenile thalli with abundant soralia indicate a long-term good prospect for the development of the coenopopulations, and allow us to assess the state of the species as normal. The existence in a specially protected area, the presence of a suitable substrate (vertical rock outcrops of significant size), as well as forest communities with a certain microclimate (shading, high relative humidity) create the necessary conditions for the conservation of M. terebrata. The results obtained are the basis for changing the status of M. terebrata in the Red Data Book of the Republic of Karelia from “0” (probably extinct) to “1” (endangered).