The new species, Cheilolejeunea hyalomarginata (Lejeuneaceae) from New Caledonia, is described and illustrated. The species is easily distinguished from all other species of Cheilolejeunea by the hyaline denticulate margin of the leaf lobe. Further diagnostic characters include the entire underleaves, the lobular apex connate with 4–6 lobe cells, and the spinose, unicellular, strongly thick-walled lobular tooth with a very small lumen at the base.

A new species of Scleropodium (Brachytheciaceae) is described from western North America. Initially recognized in a recent molecular phylogenetic study of the genus, Scleropodium occidentale B.E. Carter sp. nov. is very similar in morphology, ecology, and distribution to S. obtusifolium. A morphological investigation of S. obtusifolium and S. occidentale was conducted using 62 specimens assigned to species independently based on analyses of DNA sequences of nuclear ribosomal ITS and the chloroplast trnG region. Morphological differences between the two species are subtle, but include relatively robust and commonly spine-tipped stem and branch leaf costae in S. occidentale versus weaker and without a spine in S. obtusifolium, slightly longer lamina cells in S. obtusifolium than in S. occidentale, and a strangulate capsule in S. occidentale in contrast to the cylindrical capsule in S. obtusifolium. Fieldwork and herbarium study indicate that S. occidentale is common in California and is present in Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and southern British Columbia. All herbarium specimens of S. occidentale were previously labeled as S. obtusifolium.

A Syntrichia specimen collected from Longshoushan Mountain in northwestern China is described as a new species, namely S. rhizogemmascens. The new species is characterized by the spherical rhizoidal gemmae, obtuse and emarginate apex, plane leaf margins, a white hyaline and smooth hair point. The diagnostic characters are compared with those of most similar species. The distribution and habitat of the species is also discussed.

A recent checklist of mosses in Paraguay included three species of Holomitrium Brid.: H. arboreum Mitt., the newly reported H. olfersianum Hornsch. and the endemic H. paraguense Besch. A review of Holomitrium from the Neotropics revealed that H. paraguense was a new synonym of H. olfersianum. Lectotypes are newly proposed herein for H. olfersianum and H. paraguense based on material from the Hampe and Bescherelle herbaria in the BM. Two species of Holomitrium (H. arboreum and H. olfersianum) are now known to occur in Paraguay in the states of Alto Paraná, Canendiyú and Paraguarí.

Two new photomorphs in the Lobariaceae have been found on the remote island of Reunion in the Mascarene archipelago: the free-living Dendriscocaulon-like cyanomorph of the pantropical Lobaria discolor, and the cyanomorph of Sticta dichotoma, a species apparently endemic to the western parts of the Indian Ocean, known only from its chloromorph. Inferences from three loci demonstrate that the fungus involved in each morph of either pair belongs to the same species. Phylogenetic analyses resolve all genera of the Lobariaceae as polyphyletic, and all Dendriscocaulon-like cyanomorphs within Lobaria, except for D. dendroides, which belongs to Sticta.

Umbilicaria semitensis was described by Tuckerman in 1872 based on a specimen from Yosemite National Park. Despite the species having muriform spores, in contrast to simple spores in U. angulata, U. semitensis has long been treated as a synonym of U. angulata, owing to the superficial similarities of the thallus. Analysis of the ITS and LSU regions of nrDNA supports the hypothesis that the species are distinct. In addition to the spore and DNA differences, the two species are largely allopatric, and only know to co-occur in one site in Oregon. Umbilicaria semitensis ranges from southern California to southern Oregon, while U. angulata ranges from California to arctic Alaska.

To evaluate the current delimitation of broadly distributed morphospecies from the Lecanora dispersa group, the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2) was analyzed phylogenetically and compared to phenotypic data variation within and among species. Phylogenetic relationships among 34 individuals representing eight species from the L. dispersa group, collected mainly from Poland and other European countries, were inferred using two types of Bayesian analyses (with and without a priori alignments), maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony approaches. The highest phylogenetic resolution and the largest number of significantly supported internodes resulted from the Bayesian analysis without a priori alignment. Inferred phylogenies confirmed a broader delimitation of the L. dispersa group, to include four additional lobate taxa: L. contractula, L. pruinosa, L. reuteri, and L. thuleana ( =  Arctopeltis thuleana). Lecanora crenulata, L. dispersa, L. reuterii, and the core of L. albescens and L. semipallida were all found to be monophyletic with high support (by at least one phylogenetic analysis) except the first species. Based on the ITS region, phenotypically similar individuals, thought to belong to one monophyletic group, were found to belong to multiple distantly related groups (e.g., members of L. albescens and L. hagenii), suggesting that morphological, anatomical and chemical characters may not be consistent in predicting species boundaries within the L. dispersa group. Potential undescribed species were found within phenotypically defined L. albescens and L. semipallida. Phylo-taxonomic studies of the L. dispersa group with more loci and a more extensive taxon sampling are urgently needed.

Many aspects of forest structure are thought to contribute to the presence, abundance, and diversity of forest-floor bryophytes. To what extent easily measured characteristics of local environment (overstory structure or substrate availability) explain patterns of abundance and diversity remains unclear in most forest ecosystems. We explore these relationships in four mature, Douglas-fir dominated forests in southwestern Washington (U.S.A.). At each site, six 13-ha stands were sampled systematically (787 total plots) to capture variation in physical environment, forest overstory and understory vegetation, substrates, and forest-floor bryophytes. We compared bryophyte species composition, richness, and rank abundance among sites. We used multiple linear regression to model local cover and richness as functions of the physical environment, overstory and understory vegetation, and substrate availability. We compared the contributions of substrates to bryophyte abundance and richness and measured the strength and consistency of associations between individual species and particular substrates. Bryophyte composition differed significantly among sites, but patterns of richness and rank abundance were surprisingly similar, despite differences in stand structure and climate. Regression models explained only 18–23% of the variation in bryophyte cover or richness, likely due to weak relationships between vegetation structure and microclimate, disparity in the spatial scales of measurement, and temporal lags in bryophyte responses to structure. Most non-litter substrates (mineral soil, rock, fresh or decayed wood, stumps, shrub and tree bases) contributed minimally to available growing space, but disproportionately to species richness, particularly at the stand scale. Individual species were most often associated with decayed wood, although few species showed strong substrate specificity. In general, however, substrates contributed to ecological redundancy, with most species occupying multiple substrates and most substrates supporting a diversity of species.

Fifty-one species of lichenicolous fungi are reported from Kamchatka, all but three being new to the area. Epinephroma gen. nov., Endococcus peltigericola sp. nov. (on Peltigera membranacea), Epinephroma kamchatica sp. nov. (on Nephroma parile) and Stigmidium buelliae sp. nov. (on Buellia disciformis) are described as new to science. Phoma lobariicola is new to Asia and Russia, Epicladonia stenospora, Plectocarpon peltigerae, Sphaerellothecium propinquellum and Tremella cetrariicola are new to Asia, Zwackhiomyces sphinctrinoides is new to Russia.

The new combination Diorygma antillarum (Vain.) Nelsen, Lücking & Rivas Plata is proposed. This taxon lacks ascomata and produces unique isidia-like structures for vegetative dispersal. Its systematic position was clarified by incorporating molecular sequence data from the small subunit of the mitochondrial ribosomal DNA (mtSSU) and small and large subunits of the nuclear ribososomal DNA (nuSSU and nuLSU). Our phylogenetic hypotheses suggest this taxon is not part of Herpothallon in the class Arthoniomycetes, but is supported as a member of the genus Diorygma (Graphidaceae) in the class Lecanoromycetes. This agrees with morphological and chemical features of this species.

We report the results of recently investigated collections from Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park that have yielded several new additions to the North American lichen checklist, and Caloplaca lecanorae, a new lichenicolous lichen found on the thallus of Lecanora leprosa. Those species new to North America include Arthonia compensatula, A. ochrospila, Bacidina pallidocarnea, Byssoloma absconditum, Coenogonium isidiigerum, C. isidiosum, Enterographa pallidella, Lecanora hypocrocina, L. tropica, Monoblastia palmicola and Parmotrema wrightii. Both Lecanora species have been reported from Mexico, which is excluded from the aforementioned checklist.

A new species, Lecidella oceanica Lu L. Zhang & Xin Y. Wang, is described here. The new species has been collected from the southwest coast of South Korea and is characterized by small, subimmersed or sessile apothecia, colorless hypothecium and the presence of capistratone, isoarthothelin and thiophanic acid. We also report L. asema is for the first time from South Korea and new localities for L. enteroleucella.

The epiphytic lichen flora in the semi-deciduous forest of Monte Barranca, Santiago de Cuba differs between the edge and interior due to differences in light levels. Four transects of 50 m were establish: two on the edge and two on the interior. Sixty randomly-chosen trees were surveyed, fifteen trees in each transect. The trees were sampled from the ground to two meters in height. Seventy-four corticolous lichen species were recorded, including 51 newly recorded for Cuba. Reproductive strategies were as varied for those lichens on the edge of the forest as for those in the interior, but most of the species were reproducing sexually. Porina distans, a generalist species, is highly adapted to the Monte Barranca semi-deciduous forest.

Metzgeriaceae are a cosmopolitan family that is particularly diverse in the Neotropics. In Brazil, the species of Metzgeria Raddi preferentially inhabit the coastal ecosystem Atlantic Rain Forest (from northeastern to southern Brazil). For bryophytes, the IUCN distribution criteria are of critical importance to evaluate threat status. In this study, we propose the use of ecological niche modeling methods to estimate the extent of potential occurrence of five Metzgeria species. Herbarium collection data were used to estimate the potential distribution of the species based on the method MAXENT. Understanding the spatial distribution of species is essential for the conservation of biodiversity, and the use of potential distribution models in biogeographic analysis is an important tool for the conservation of rare or endangered species. Modeling the distribution of five Metzgeria species endemic and/or threatened reveals that the species are currently not known from several areas that are, however, predicted to provide suitable environments. From these areas of forest fragments, 52% are under environmental protection, which is very important for the conservation of these species typical of the Atlantic Rain Forest domain. When we intersect this information with future areas of environmental protection, proposed by the Ministry of Environment of Brazil in 2010, we observed that 93% of forest fragments will be protected.