The epiphytic lichens on Fagus sylvatica in beech forests of Europe: towards an open and dynamic checklist

Abstract

Beech forests are considered one of the most emblematic ecosystems in the temperate deciduous broadleaf forest biome and host a wide variety of specialised cryptogamic organisms such as epiphytic lichens. This checklist is the first compilation focused on the epiphytic lichen diversity occurring on Fagus sylvatica L. trees along Europe. The checklist is based on a literature search encompassing 137 studies. We report 683 lichen species differently distributed across 26 European countries. The reported richness of the lichen species ranged from one in Kosovo and Netherlands to 331 species in Ukraine. All information provided in this manuscript is available online (http://biodiversos.org/epidiversity-lichens-fagus-europe/) to facilitate the accessibility and updating of the data. Thus, we aim that this checklist becomes an open and dynamic database that continuously expands not only based on new lichenological studies, but also with the information retrieved by lichenologist in the past, data published in a diverse suite of languages and herbarium records.