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Lichenological Studies in Sri Lanka
By Admin | May 30, 2009
Authors: R.G.U. Jayalal 1, D.S.A. Wijesundara 2, V. Karunaratne 1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
2Department of National Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has very rich plant diversity and includes plants that belong a variety of taxonomic groups. Out of these, lichens are a highly specialized and ubiquitous group as they have the ability to adapt to extreme environmental conditions, which enabled them to become pioneers of vegetation. However, little work has been done on lichens in Sri Lanka and thus knowledge with regard to diversity and distribution in Sri Lanka is rather incomplete.
G.H.K. Thwaites, superintendent and later director at the Botanical Garden at Peradeniya, who made the first collection of lichens in central highlands of Sri Lanka between 1849 to 1880. This collection was studied and described by Leighton (1870) and he was able to identify 196 lichen species. Of them 44 species were new to science including many Graphidaceae and Thelotremataceae. Then Almquist, the famous Swedish explorer collected lichens at Peradeniya area in 1879. This collection was sent to Nylander for identification on the basis of Lichens Ceylonenses in 1900. A.G.H. Alston collected few lichens in 19261931. He wrote a Kandy flora, a supplement to Trimens handbook, and unpublished taxonomic treatments of Ceylon Bryophytes, Algae and Lichens. Kurokawa and Mineta collected mainly in montane forest in 1966/68 contributing to Anaptychia (Kurokawa, 1973) and family Parmeliaceae (Kurokawa & Mineta, 1973). Another lichen collection has been done incidentally under the Smithsonian Institution Flora of Ceylon Project from 19701976, mostly by the Louis Wheeler in drier lowland areas. Then Rolf Santesson and Roland Moberg visited to Sri Lanka in 1975, and those together collected about 10 specimens of Thelotremataceae, mostly in the Horton Plains area.
During 19761978, Hale collected lichens from canopies of virgin Dipterocarp trees being logged in Sinharaja forest. At that time he was able to add 76 species to the family Thelotremataceae and 4 additional species of Relicina. Following a botanical excursion from the University of Vienna in 1984, Brunbauer compiled an account of the literature on lichens in Sri Lanka in 15 articles (Brunbauer 19841987), including 546 species and their synonymy at that time. This includes 550 species belonging to 122 genera and 48 families.
In 1986, Moberg describe a new lichen genus Rolfidium in the family Bacidiaceae. Further publications by Singh (1990), Awasthi (1991), Makhil and Patwaradhan (1992), described some microlichen genera including Buellia and Diplotomma, Macolichens and Trypethelium species respectively. In 1997, O.Breub described 54 new lichen species reporting from Central and Southern part of Sri Lanka. In the same year, Vezda described 53 folicolous lichens from Sri Lanka. Among them, 32 species were new to Sri Lanka. Above all the literatures have brought the lichen number up to 659 species recorded to Sri Lanka.
Then in 1999, preliminary survey of lichen conducted during first lichen workshop at Peradeniya University and participants were able to collect 98 of different types of lichen specimens (unpublished data). All these specimens are kept in the National Herbarium, Peradeniya. Other than that Jayasooriya recorded 17 species of lichen during his study of the flora of Ritigala and those specimens also kept at the National herbarium (Jayasooriya, 1984).
During 19992003, Chandrani Wijerathne surveyed lichens flora at Ritigala Mountains and its vicinity. During their survey, they were able to describe 35 new lichen species to Sri Lanka (unpublished dataNSF report 2004). In 2001, Orange et al described two new additional lepraioid lichens to Sri Lankan lichen flora. In 2003, Nayanakantha and Gajameragedara described about 50 lichen species collected from Kandy municipal region.
In 2006, M.K. Karunarathne carried out a survey in five ecoregions in Sri Lanka and they were able to find out 23 genera of lichens. In our survey at Horton Plains National Park Sri Lanka during 2004 to 2006, total of 1515 specimens of macrolichens belonging to 13 families 48 genera and 293 species were identified. Amongst them, 4 genera were new to Sri Lankan lichen flora. According to the literature regarding the Sri Lankan lichens, 696 species are already recorded. However, this number should be exceeded 1500 according to the unpublished data and ongoing research findings.
Key Words: Lichens, Sri Lanka, Horton Plains
Topics: symposium2008 | 6 Comments »
August 27th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Dear Ms. Dulmini,
I am one of the author of the above article. I suggest you to print authers names at the begenning of the document. Otherwise it makes confusion about the right authors of the article.
Thank you
Jayalal
February 10th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Dear Ms. Dulmini
Could you send me this useful literature on Lichenoloical studies in Sri Lanka along with the checklist of Sri Lankan lichens. I would be highly pleased if you do the needful.
With regards
Yogesh Joshi
July 12th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Dear Rau and colleagues
This article is a very thorough history.
Petch 1950 in his catalogue of fungi lists a lichen under Dictyonema.
Brunnbauer’s 2 volume book is apparently available for exchange fron GZU Graz care of Josef Hafellner. We have not determined where stocks in Austria are kept if still in print.
The articles by Breuss & Brunnbauer 1997 and Vezda, et al. 1997 are available as pdfs from the NHM Vienna’s Annalen journal website.
Digital information from herbarium specimen labels of material collected by Thwaites, Almquist, Moberg, Santesson, Thor, Petch, Hale and Brunnbauer and some other minor collectors in Sri Lanka are available from queries run on online databases (e.g. UPS, Uppsala, S, Stockholm and US, Smithsonian) of herbaria.
It would be excellent if label data could be published digitally online from the rapidly developing holdings of National Herbarium collections kept in Peradeniya.
All the best,
Howard Fox
Maria Cullen
July 12th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Just a correction. The biologiezentrum.at website has the Annalen vol 99 articles by Brunnbauer, note spelling Brunnbauer.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
@Howard Fox,
Thanks for your comment. I’ll request authors, R.G.U. Jayalal or Dr D.S.A. Wijesundara to respond.
Hiran (Admin)
July 31st, 2010 at 6:47 am
This news item was published on the front page of Daily Mirror, on 31 July 2010:
Two Irish scientists who had illegally collected and removed plants from the Horton Plains National Park were fined Rs. 120,000 at the Nuwara Eliya magistrate courts yesterday.
The two Irish Nationals – Howard Fox and Maria Cullen were also fined Rs. 25,000 each for obstructing the duties of the Wildlife Department officials.
They were fined Rs. 50,000 each for the illegal collection and removal of plants from a national park, and Rs. 10,000 each for the illegal collection and removal of protected plants.