Scientific publications

Following the publication of the Red Data Book of the Moscow Region second edition (2008) monitoring of rare lichen species listed in the book, the search for their new locations, as well as identification of species rare in the region were continued. Given the rare finds of Bryoria species in the Moscow Region, it was decided to give more attention to this genus. Monitoring in protected areas (PAs), as biodiversity refugia, in the last few years allowed us to assess the current distribution of Bryoria species in the area and their affiliation to certain types of plant communities, as well as to identify the rarest species of this genus. More than 200 protected areas were surveyed, but Bryoria species were found only in 50 of them. The database and maps of findings of different Bryoria species were produced using Mapinfo software. These lichens have not been found in areas directly adjacent to the City of Moscow, or in Meshcherskaya province and the southern suburbs, partly because of the high sensitivity of a majority of species in this genus to air pollution and their higher air humidity requirements. The areas richest in Bryoria species are PAs of Lotoshinsky-Taldomsky and Mozhaysky-Zagorsky geobotanical districts, which are spatially dominated by subnemoral (south-taiga) spruce forests interspersed with paludified coniferous and small-leaved forests, transitional and raised bogs. In the PAs surveyed between 2010 and 2016 we found four Bryoria species of the six previously registered from the region. The most common were B. capillaries and B. fuscescens, growing mainly on spruce trees in old-growth spruce forests. Considering the scarcity of B. fremontii, B. osteola and B. nadvornikiana findings, one should continue monitoring for further decision-making on their inclusion in the next edition of the Red Data Book of the Moscow Region.