The Lichens of Greece including lichenicolous fungi

This is the first guide to the lichens of Greece ever published. It includes all 1551 taxa at species rank and below that are considered to be reliably reported for Greece. Because the whole of SE Europe and the Mediterranean Basin are poorly served by such guides at present, it will also be of use to workers beyond the borders of Greece itself. It can be
supplemented with the Greek lichen checklist, Abbott (2009).

The lichens of SE Europe and large parts of the Mediterranean are not well known, and there are outstanding taxonomic problems in many groups. Those problems can not be solved here, but the author has tried to indicate where the problems are. Their solution will require monographic revisions of the groups concerned, revisions which include far more material from SE Europe and the eastern Mediterranean than has been usual in the past.

Keys include all species reported for Greece, except for a few poorly known ones, and also include, in a different font, many species that have not been reported for Greece but which might be expected to occur here. Inclusion of the latter is important, because the serious worker will eventually encounter species not previously reported for Greece.
The broad scope of the keys will also make them useful for determining collections from other countries in the region. It is advisable to study the entries in the Glossary before attempting to use the keys and before studying the accounts of genera and species in the taxonomic section.

Information on distribution and ecology is provided for all Greek species. Detailed descriptions are provided for those species for which the author has seen enough Greek material. For the remaining species, information in the keys amounts to a brief description, and he cits references that can be used by those requiring more detailed descriptions.

The biological scope of this publication is the same as that in the Checklist of the lichens and lichenicolous Fungi of Greece: (2009) by the same author,, i.e. ‘lichens’ as usually understood, lichenicolous fungi, and a few miscellaneous taxa that have often been studied by lichenologists.

The aim of the work has been to put the study of lichens in Greece onto a reasonably firm foundation on which the next generation can build. The earliest drafts of the keys date from 1999, and of other parts from around 2005. The author has gradually improved all parts over the years, but is well aware that many imperfections remain, and that further improvement is desirable. He acknowledges that a more thorough and critical treatment would require additional authors particularly those with a special interst in more difficult groups.  Given that collections of Greek lichens are still not extensive, that few are willing to study those that do exist, and with an absence of prospective co-authors, there is  little prospect of a better work than the present one being published in the near future.

CONTENTS

Introduction 1
Acknowledgments 1
A note for beginners 2
A note on nomenclature 3
Keys to genera 4
Taxonomic section (in alphabetical order of genera) 50
References 685
Glossary and Abbreviations 702
Appendix: Classification of the Fungi 716