Glacier Bay (Alaska) – a global hotspot for lichen diversity, and why should I care?

Toby Spribille (Graz): Biodiversity researchers have long known that species diversity declines with increasing distance from the equator, but it is not clear this holds true for lichenized Ascomycetes. However, comparable data points are lacking and some of the richest areas of the world have never been surveyed. In the framework of a three-year project at Glacier Bay, Alaska funded by the U.S. National Park Service, my team surveyed lichenized and lichenicolous fungi in different sectors of Glacier Bay, Alaska, including fjords deglaciated after the Little Ice Age within the last 100 years, and older landscapes that have been ice-free for approximately 15,000 years. We expected younger areas to represent colonization sinks for diaspores from older landscapes, but were surprised that our preliminary data are not at all consistent with such a pattern. Our pilot biodiversity project illustrates the challenges of designing studies to answer specific ecological questions in complex, poorly known landscapes and highlights the spectacular richness of the Alaskan boreal rainforest ecosystem.