SPECIES FACT SHEET

Scientific Name: Dermatocarpon meiophyllizum VainioDivision: AscomycotaClass: LoculoascomycetesOrder: VerrucarialesFamily: Verrucariaceae

Note: Dermatocarpon meiophyllizum in the PNW was long thought to be D. luridum, a species of eastern N. America. Dermatocarpon meiophyllizum was recognized in North America in 2004 (Glavich & Geiser 2004).

Technical Description: Thallus: squamulose or foliose, each individual attached to substrate in one place, by a tough umbilicus. Lobes: 3mm to 2 cm wide cm wide, always crowded in dense groups. Upper surface light to dark brown, usually not pruinose (powdered with whitish chemical deposits); turning greenish brown when wet. Lower surface brown to dark brown, smooth or finely granulose or weakly wrinkled, with bulges where the perithecia (flask-shaped fruiting bodies) are immersed in the thallus. Reproduction: Spores produced sexually in perithecia (flask-shaped fruiting bodies imbedded in thallus), the mouths (ostioles) of which appear on the upper surface as tiny black indented dots. Spores (11)14-18(21) x (5)6-8(10) µm, simple, hyaline, 8 per ascus. Asexual spores are produced in pycnidia, structures with a shape similar to perithecia. Photobiont: green alga.

Distinctive characters: 1) Dense colonies of umbilicate thalli attached to rock, 2) lower surface smooth or weakly wrinkled, 3) upper surface brown to dark brown when dry, not pruinose, 4) fruiting bodies show as small black ostioles.

Similar species: Dermatocarpon miniatum is a common species with individuals 2-4 cm in diameter that are densely packed, usually pruinose and grayish or pale brownish gray; the lower surface is light brown, orange-brown or dark brown, smooth, warty or wrinkled and occasionally somewhat veined and smooth or with bulges from perithecia. Its spores are <15 µm long. It grows in trickle lines on rock, less frequently inundated than the habitat of D. meiophyllizum.

D. rivulorum has a distinctly veined and often wrinkled lower surface that is brown to blackish and more or less glossy, the habitat is subalpine to alpine or in cold deep canyons. Spores are 16.5- 23 x 6.5-9 µm.

D. poyphyllizum has a grey-brown upper surface that is slightly to strongly pruinose and the habitat is subalpine to alpine. Spores are <15 µm long.

Umbilicaria species are attached by an umbilicus to the substrate, but they often grow singly and are much larger. When they have fruiting bodies, they are prominent apothecia, not perithecia. Most have dark upper surfaces.

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Life History: Reproduction is by spores produced in perithecia; these spores must germinate near the correct green alga to form a new thallus. Thallus fragments could act as asexual propagules.

Range, Distribution, and Abundance: From the NW Territory in Canada through the Coast Ranges and Cascades into the Rocky Mountains. It has been found from the North Cascades south into California.

BLM Districts and National Forests: Documented in the Northwest Oregon and Roseburg BLM Districts. Documented in the Deschutes, Gifford Pinchot, Malheur, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie, Mt. Hood, Ochoco, Okanogan-Wenatchee, Olympic and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forests and suspected in the Colville and Umatilla-Wallowa National Forests. Documented in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in WA.

Habitat Associations: It is mostly found on the rocks of stream channels within the splash zone, but can be found submerged or up to 2 meters above the water surface (Glavich 2007a; Heiðmarsson 2001; Gilbert & Giavarini 1997). It can also be found in seeps and on both basic and acidic rocks. Dermatocarpon meiophyllizum tends to grow at high elevations, but it has been found from elevations of 61 to 2300 meters (Glavich 2007a); low elevation sites are in cold deep canyons (McCune & Geiser 2009).

Threats: Decline in water quality from upstream runoff, including fertilizer from tree plantations. In addition logging, road building and deconstruction/decommissioning and other sediment-generating activities near or upstream could impact this lichen. Because D. meiophyllizum occurs in habitats with some level of exposure (Glavich 2007a), habitat alteration that would shade population sites, such as trail bridge building and stream restoration (including down log placement and tree planting), may also constitute threats.

Conservation Considerations: Revisit known sites to assess population stability and to determine habitat characteristics such as water temperature, nitrogen, phosphorus and heavy metal tolerance.

Avoid activities near or upstream from the site that would reduce water quality; if these actions are unavoidable, consider mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate sediment pulses, chemical inputs, or other actions detrimental to water quality.

Maintain light levels at known sites.

Conservation Rankings: G3G5; OR not ranked; WA S2, T, Sensitive.

Keys to identification of the species: McCune & Geiser 2009, Smith et al. 2009.

Photos and illustrations: McCune & Geiser 2009.

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Preparer: Daphne StoneDate Completed: April 2019Edited by: Rob Huff

References Brodo, I. M.2016. Keys to Lichens of North America: Revised and Expanded. Yale University Press, New Haven. 427 pp.

Esslinger, T. L. 2018. A cumulative checklist for the lichen-forming,lichenicolous and allied fungi of the continental United States and Canada. North DakotaState University: https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~esslinge/chcklst/chcklst7.htm Last visited 5 November 2018.

Gilbert, O. L. 1996. The lichen vegetation of chalk and limestone streams in Britain. Lichenologist 28: 145-159.

Gilbert, O. L. and V. J. Giavarini. 1997. The lichen vegetation of acid watercourses in England. Lichenologist 29: 347-367.

Gilbert, O. L. and V. Giavarini. 2000. The lichen vegetation of lake margins in Britain. Lichenologist 32: 365-387.

Glavich, D. A. 2006a. Key to the Dermatocarpon of the Pacific Northwest. https://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/documents/inventories/200609-key-li-dermatocarpon-200609.pdf Last accessed 27 November 2018

Glavich, D. A. 2007a. Distribution, rarity, and habitats of three aquatic lichens in the US Pacific Northwest. The Bryologist 112(1): 54-72.

Glavich, D. A. 2007b. Conservation Assessment for Dermatocarpon meiophyllizum. U.S.D.A. Forest Service Region 6 and U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management, Oregon and Washington. https://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/species-index/flora-lichens.shtml Last accessed 5 November 2018.

Glavich, D. A. and L.H. Geiser. 2004. Dermatocarpon meiophyllizum Vainio in the Pacific Northwest. Evansia 21(3): 137-140.

Heiðmarsson, S. 2001. The genus Dermatocarpon (Verrucariales, lichenized Ascomycotina) in the Nordic countries. Nordic Journal of Botany 20(5): 605-638.

Heiðmarsson, S. 2003. Molecular study of Dermatocarpon miniatum (Verrucariales) and allied taxa. Mycological Research 107(4): 459-468.

McCune, B. and L. Geiser. 2009. Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest, Second Edition. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR. 464 pp.

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Smith, C. W., A. Aptroot, B. J. Coppins, A. Fletcher, O. L. Gilbert, P. W. James and P. A. Wolseley. 2009. The Lichens of Great Britian and Ireland. British Lichen Society, London. 1046 pp.

WA Natural Heritage Program. 2019. List of Lichens.https://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/amp_nh_lichens.pdf?3fqeme Last accessed 5 November 2018.

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Photos All photos by the author, D. Stone.

Upper side of thallus showing ostioles of perithecia and mostly brown surface with some pruina on the right side. (McCune 30494)

Upper side of thallus without pruina (Stone 8395.1).

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Lower side of thallus showing rounded bumps where perithecia push down the smooth lower cortex (Stone 8395.1).

Lower surface of thallus ( McCune 30494).

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