Symposium: Taxonomy, Evolution and Classification of Lichens and Related Fungi (Linnean Society of London, 9-11 January 1998)

The symposium was a major success and enjoyed by all. Attended by c. 80 delegates from 18 countries with many additional UK BLS members joining for part of the programme, this was the first conference of its kind held in Europe specifically devoted to systematic problems in lichens at all taxonomic levels using both traditional and up-to-date molecular methods. It was especially noteworthy that the majority of speakers were well below the age of 35, a clear sign that lichen taxonomy is very much alive and an exciting area for original research with many important questions to be solved! It attracted people from different backgrounds including both professional and keen amateur. We are at an exciting stage of redefining genera based on more natural relationships and that molecular information has an important role to play (particularly at generic and higher levels) was evident from several presentations, especially on Parmelia and Lecanora s.lat. This led to a greater appreciation (including by the most ardent sceptic!) of the value of molecular datasets. It was also gratifying that there is a growing realism that recognising more informal groupings, perhaps at a sub-generic level as an interim measure, rather than describing new genera, is preferable until more taxa have been properly examined. Certainly debate was extremely lively after virtually all presentations until the final session when there were signs that the action-packed three days were finally beginning to take their toll. Leaving science aside it was also a most convivial affair. The Linnean Society was an excellent venue and appreciated by all. We were initially treated to the Dougal Swinscow Memorial lecture presented by Rosmarie Honegger, who gave an enlightening and fascinating account on aspects of the lichen symbiosis. The symposium dinner was also held at Spaghetti House, Jermyn Street where the beer flowed long into the night. A further opportunity for participants to meet was thoughtfully provided by David Hawksworth at his north London home at the end of the conference. We owe special thanks to Mats Wedin who as principal organiser must be congratulated for its great success. We are also extremely grateful for the generous financial assistance and co-operation of the British Lichen Society, Linnean Society and Systematics Association without which this symposium could not have taken place. The proceedings will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Lichenologist, which will also be available as a separate volume, later this year.

W. Purvis, London

Lichen Excursion held in August 1997 in Québec, Canada

As part of the 1997 Annual Meeting of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society, held in August in Montreal, Canada, I. Brodo, S. Clayden, F. Lutzoni and C. Roy led a field trip entitled Lichens and Bryophytes of the Laurentian Highlands and St. Lawrence Valley. A congenial group of twenty-eight bryologists and lichenologists from the United States, Canada and several European countries, with diverse interests and backgrounds, participated in this extremely well-planned, four-day (August 3-7, 1997) excursion to a variety of species-rich habitats. Stops were scheduled to allow sufficient time for the serious collectors to make thorough collections, especially of the species indicated as unique to each site in the excursion booklet, and for the leaders to teach participants less familiar with the region's local flora. A hillside sugar maple-yellow birch-beech forest in The Mont Wright Parc de Conservation Municipal, north of Québec City, was visited en route to Université Laval Biological Station in Forêt Montmorency. The biological station laboratory space allowed participants to use of the microscopes and keys provided by the excursion leaders for species determinations. Evenings were spent with lab work, stimulating informal discussions, short collecting trips close to the field station, or simply enjoying a chat and a beer. The second day took us north to collect along road cuts, in balsam fir and white birch woodlands, and off rock outcrops along the Chute de la Rivière Noire, in the Réserve Faunique des Laurentides within the Forêt Montmorency. Ochrolechia gowardii on Betula and Pilophorus cereolus on a shaded rock outcrop were highlighted lichen species. The rare aquatic lichen Hydrothyria venosa, on rocks in the Rivière Noire above the falls, merited its own special stop. The swarms of insects in the edge vegetation of the ombrotrophic structured bog, visited in the late afternoon of the second day, did little to diminish the groups' cryptogamic zeal. A quick stop at an open sandy site under a hydroelectric line allowed for S. Clayden to end the day with a clarification of the most important distinguishing characters of the five Stereocaulon species flourishing in this last stop. Though animals were not actually sighted, evidence of caribou at the stop in the provincial Parc des Grands-Jardins was a reminder that the open black spruce forest at this stop was to be one rich in lichens and bryophytes common to northern boreal floras. The extensive Cladina cover, typical of open lichen woodlands, the more shaded Pleurozium schreberi vegetation of the edges of the Rivière Malbaie, the lichen encrusted glacial erratics and the sandy road cuts all provided a variety of microhabitats for careful exploration and marvelous collecting at this special site. Turning eastward, the excursion bus descended to sea-level and traveled along the northern edge of the St. Lawrence River to the Centre Écologique de Port-au-Saumon... Here, our charming cabins, the magnificent view from the dining verandah of ships sailing the St. Lawrence, and the congenial and lively conversations, all competed for our attention with the lichens and mosses on the somewhat maritime shoreline rocks, the shaded ravines, and the woodland trails on the grounds of the center. Again, laboratory facilities at the station were made available for work on our day's collections. The return trip to Montreal included a surprise luncheon stop in Vieux-Québec, allowing us to participate in a few of the delightful activities of 'les fêtes de la Nouvelle-France', before we had to bring to a close what had been an extraordinary field trip and a challenging learning experience: a very special trip for which our organizers, Ernie, François, Steve and Claude, all deserved and received our heartfelt thanks.

E. Kneiper and O. Breuss, Wien

IAL field meeting in Brazil in 1997: Re-collecting Vainio

About 25 lichenologists participated in the IAL Field Meeting in Caraça, Brazil, on 16-22 September 1997. About a half of them were from Europe, and the rest from South America and Japan; conspicuously, no North American lichenologist was present. The meeting commemorated Edvard A. Vainio (Wainio), who conducted field work in the area in 1885. The meeting took place at the old Caraça Monastery (Santuario do Caraça), which is a fascinating historical monument, located about 120 km SE of Belo Horizonte, in the Municipio Catas Altas (to 1995 in Mun. S. Barbara), State of Minas Gerais. Although no longer a real monastery, but a hotel and an educational centre of the Catholic Church, Caraça, with its rooms, corridors and the pictoresque small dining room by an open kitchen still has its special atmosphere, which we all enjoyed very much. Dr. Marcelo P. Marcelli, the main organizer, had done everything to provide us with a good opportunity for working on tropical lichens. We all had appropriate collecting permits from the Brazilian governement, and we all 'duplicated' our collections in the evening to leave a set of everything at the Instituto de Botanica, São Paulo (SP). The Santuario is surrounded by Parque Natural do Caraça (11,233 ha), an extensive, uninhabitated forest region at the altitude of 1,300-2,100 m in the Serra do Caraça, an extension of the great Serra do Espinhaco. We could start collecting 100 m away from the buildings and climb up to the mountains to different directions following excellent trails. The lichens are abundant, e.g., in the widespread open second-growth woodlands dominated by the low, grey-leaved tree Ermanthus erythropappus (Rubiaceae), on trees, rocks, and even soil. Fires are frequent, but moister, and older rainforest habitats do also exist. It can be expected that all the lichens which Vainio described from the area (he described about 250 species from Brazil) are still there. We did find many of them! Some are still not known from elsewhere, so that they were really 'recollected'. The material has not yet been worked up, but about 70 species of Cladoniaceae have now been recorded from Caraça, some still being undescribed. In the evenings we listened to lectures, most of them being related to Vainio. The Finnish participants (Vitikainen, Stenroos, Ahti) outlined his biography and collections. Others evaluated his taxonomic work in different groups such as Thelotremataceae (Sipman), Graphidineae (Follmann), calicioid lichens (Tibell), Lobaria (Yoshimura), Cladoniaceae (Ahti), or Vainio's Brazilian lichen flora (Marcelli). Vainio, with his phylogenetic approach, proposed a lichen system which was in many ways superior to the dominant Zahlbrucknerian system, but he also failed in the treatments of some groups. There is no doubt, however, that he laid a firm basis for treatments of Brazilian lichens, and he well deserves the title of 'Father of Brazilian lichenology': Caraça is a major locus classicus for tropical lichens. Vainio's main collection is now at the University of Turku, Finland (TUR-V). It is in an excellent condition, due to the efforts by a former curator, Dr. Reino Alava, and the whole TUR herbarium is being moved to a brand new building in 1998. The present curator of Vainio's lichens is Dr. Soili Stenroos. The Vainio meeting was followed by another one, the GLAL-3, i.e. the third meeting of the Latin American lichenologists.

GLAL3 Meeting, Campos do Jordão (São Paulo, Brazil)

The Grupo Latino Americano de Liquenólogos (GLAL) met for the third time (GLAL3) at Campos do Jordão City, São Paulo State, Brazil, last September 23-28. During the two year period 1995-97 the elected representative was Dr. Marcelo P. Marcelli (Instituto de Botánica de São Paulo, Brazil), who was also in charge of the meeting organization and the President of GLAL3. The sessions took place in a peaceful place, surrounded by extraordinary Araucaria tropical forests which gave an appropriate backdrop for the meeting. GLAL3 was attended by 35 lichenologists from Latin America, Europe and Japan. The conference was related to Latin American lichens and lichenology, with special reports for Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Guianas, as well as others devoted to taxonomic groups: Cladoniaceae, Parmeliaceae, Peltigeraceae, pyrenocarpous lichens and Lobaria. Chemistry and different types of lichens' uses were discussed. Oral communications treated subjects related with lichens systematics, floristics, ecology, biochemistry and activities of secondary metabolites. Biodiversity and species conservation problems were also discussed. One and a half days were dedicated to field work: 50 young specimens of Araucaria angustifolia offered by the Horto Forestal de Campos do Jordão were planted by the participants to commemorate the meeting. The growth of these 'dated' trees will be monitored in order to verify the colonization of the trunks in this lichen-rich area. Harrie Sipman and Isao Yoshimura proved to be great tree's planters: if, by chance, you have lots of trees to be planted, do not hesitate to call them and your problem will be rapidly solved! The complete text of the conference and some oral presentations will be published in a book edited by M.P. Marcelli and M.R.D. Seaward under the title: Lichenology in Latin America, which should be printed during June. More than a formal association, GLAL continues to be a 'crowd' of Latin-American people interested in lichenology, working together to solve common problems. GLAL meetings are biennial, and are organized by the elected GLAL representative, who is also the official contact of GLAL with the scientific community. Last September, during the GLAL3 assembly, Dr. Susana Calvelo was elected as representative for the biennium 1997-1999. It was also decided that GLAL4 will be held at Bariloche (Argentina), in October 1999. Dr. Susana Calvelo (BCRU) is in charge of the organization. She can be contacted for further information on GLAL and GLAL4. Bariloche is a city of c. 80,000 inhabitants, located 1,600 km SW of Buenos Aires, near the Nahuel Huapi National Park; surrounded by mountains up to 3,500 m high, covered by Nothofagus forests. We invite you to participate to GLAL4!

M. P. Marcelli, São Paulo and S. Calvelo, Bariloche

O.P.T.I.M.A. Commission for Lichens meeting

The meeting was held in Paris, at the Museum National d' Histoire Naturelle, on May 9, 1998. Present: P.L. Nimis (chairman), E. Barreno, A. Crespo, J.M. Egea, M. Grube, V. John, X. Llimona and M.R.D. Seaward (meeting secretary). - After a brief welcome of J.M. Iriondo, Secretary General of OPTIMA (Organization for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the Mediterranean Area), Nimis outlined the past and present situation regarding the publication of checklists for the c. 60 operational geographic units (countries and their subdivisions) currently identified as constituting the Mediterranen study area. To date, 6 checklists have been published both in paper form and on the internet (Israel, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine), 1 was provided on the internet only (Slovenia), 1 was published in paper form only (Macaronesia), 2 were in an advanced stage of preparation (Iberia and Cyprus), and 4 were in preparation (Algeria, Greece, Portugal and Serbia). By next year checklists for 14 countries, for a total of 45 operational units, will be available. Among the remaining countries, Albania and Egypt were possible, S France, Libya, Lebanon, and Croatia were doubtful or difficult. Consideration was then given to a more consistent format for the gathering and publication of checklists. A presentation was provided by M. Grube on the content of the lichen OPTIMA internet site, based on the database at Graz and using the Italian lichen flora as a model, its potential application, and methods for updating it. Several checklists were linked and are now collectively searcheable, providing a first nucleus of a general checklist of Mediterranean lichens. Of particular importance was the production of a Thesaurus of synonyms, accessible via internet, which facilitates the linking of several checklists, even when they follow different nomenclatural standards. Thought was given to updating published checklists. Guidelines for the presentation of all OPTIMA data were considered, particularly in terms of supplementary information (biogeography, habitat, etc.), definition, editorial standards and abbreviations. Authors of checklist were suggested to update them also by increasing the number of geographic subdivisions, when this is feasible. It was proposed to establish an inventory of herbaria holdings of Mediterranean material, the information being derived by Internet via IAL. Nimis raised the question of finance; to date, $ 23,000 had been committed from his own research budget, for which many partecipants were most grateful, but alternative sources should be sought, both by individuals and collectively. In spite of the restricted budget, however, the project is proceeding well, and perhaps even faster than originally expected.

M.R.D. Seaward, Bradford

Ulzijn Cogt (1940 - 1996)

lt makes me sad to write the obituary of my dear friend Prof. Dr Ulzijn Cogt, who died of liver cirrhosis on July 1st 1996 in Ulaan Baatar at the age of 56, much too early for his family and science. He was born on March lst 1940 as the 7th boy of eight brothers and one sister at Kyargas, a village of the Uvs province in the northwestern part of Mongolia. His father Ulzii was a herdsman and the young boy was very early confronted with the hard work in the mountain steppe. Ulzijn attended the primary and secondary school at Ulaangom (the centre of the Uvs province) from 1958 to 1962, and then went to Ulaan Baatar to study biology at the Mongolian National University, where he made his diploma on 'Plankton'. In 1959, Ulzijn married Ts. Tserev, a medical doctor, from which he had a son. From 1962 to 1969 Cogt was teacher of botany at the Mongolian Teacher's University in the Mongolian capital and started research as a scientific co-worker at the Botanical Institute of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in 1969. To learn more about lichens he went to St. Petersburg (Leningrad), one of the lichenological centres of Russia, where he also learned to master the Russian language. The title of his dissertation was Soil lichens of the Mongolian Peoples' Republic. Between 1970 and 1978 Cogt took part in some Russian-Mongolian botanical expeditions to different parts of Mongolia. The lichenological results were summarized in Golubkova's Conspect of the Lichen Flora of the Mongolian People's Republic (Leningrad 1981). I met Ulzijn for the first time in Ulaan Baatar in 1978, when we started our first Mongolian-German expedition to the Changai Mountains; he was the only lichenologist in Mongolia. Later on, in 1983 and 1988 he accompanied us on our 2nd and 3rd expeditions to lake Chòvsgol in the northern part of Mongolia and to the Nemegt Depression in the Gobi Desert, and I shall never forget the joint adventures during these trips. Ulzijn was always very helpful, not only in contacting the local Mongolian authorities, but also in loading and unloading our lorry, or in pitching the tents. He was the first to wake up in the morning, and when I crept out of the tent he already had prepared the traditional Mongolian tea; later on, through the influence of us Europeans, he developed a taste for coffee. I particularly remember the episode on the first day of our 1988 expedition, when we made a short break in the steppe near Lun (ca. 60 km west of Ulaan Baatar), and Ulzijn opened a bottle of Archi (Mongolian vodka) to put the spirits of the mountains in a favorable mood by spraying some drops of the vodka in all four directions: with the rest of the bottle we 'saved our souls'. In 1988 Ulzijn Cogt came to Germany, and learned enough German at the Herder-Institute in Leipzig to write his dissertation on the Flechtenflora der Mongolischen Volksrepublik (MVR) and to defend it at the Faculty of Sciences of the Martin-Luther-University in Halle-Saale under the supervision of Prof. R. Schubert in 1990. Learning German was certainly not so easy for Ulzijn, but this demonstrated his courage and endurance. In 1991 he became professor and leader of the project Mongolian Flora at the Institute of Botany of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in Ulaan Baatar. Grants from the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) permitted him to stay for several months at the Botanical Museum in Berlin-Dahlem in 1992 and 1993, where he finished, with the help of H. Sipman, his last paper 'Die Flechten der Mongolei' (Willdenowia 25, 1995). Ulzijn Cogt was honoured in Mongolia with the "Gold Star" and several other medals for his merits in science. Besides lichenology he liked flowers, cooking and skating, and was a passionate stamp collector; he was especialìy fond of his grandson, who was always with him in Ulaan Baatar. In Mongolia we often passed near 'ovos', and every time Ulzijn Cogt offered something at these holy places. I am certain that his soul will be on the right path to the Nirvana.