Hot Dots (Arthonia kermesina)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 150510598

First Conservation and IUCN Red List Assessment of Endangered North American Lichens

Lichens are ecologically important and highly biodiverse fungi. They have long been recognized as robust indictors of ecosystem health, and have been substantially impacted by human mediated changes to the environment such as habitat loss and pollution. Despite the above lichens remain largely excluded from conservation efforts, particularly in regions outside of Europe.

Funds from the MBZ Foundation supported the first IUCN Red List assessment workshop in North America. The workshop was an international meeting held in July 2015 at The New York Botanical Garden in New York City. It brought together lichen experts from the United States and Canada, together with the IUCN Specialist Group representative from Switzerland, and resulted in the completion of IUCN Red List assessments for more than two dozen North American lichens that had been proposed to be endangered or threatened.

Outreach and education was also carried out in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States where many of the focal species occur. A three-day course on rare lichen identification aimed at land managers and official responsible for rare species management was given at Highlands Biological Station, North Carolina. Subsequently a one-week introductory course in lichen biology and conservation was also given at the same field site.