Following a large-scale phylogenetic study of the lichenized genus Cora (Basidiomycota: Agaricales: Hygrophoraceae), we formally describe 70 new species, honouring the seventieth birthday of David Leslie Hawksworth, one of the preeminent figures in mycology and lichenology in the past 50 years. Based on an updated phylogeny using the ITS fungal barcoding locus, we now recognize 189 taxa in a genus that until recently was considered to represent a single species; including this contribution, 92 of these are formally recognized, including five taxa based on historical names or collections that have not been sequenced. Species of Cora can be recognized by a combination of morphological (size, colour, lobe configuration, surface hairs, hymenophore size and shape), anatomical (thallus thickness, cortex structure, photobiont type, hyphal papillae), and ecogeographical features (substrate, habitat, distribution), and a keytable allowing the identification of all accepted taxa is provided. The new species are: Cora accipiter Moncada, Madriñán & Lücking spec. nov., C. applanata Moncada, Soto-Medina & Lücking spec. nov., C. arachnodavidea Moncada, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. arborescens Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. arcabucana Moncada, C. Rodríguez & Lücking spec. nov., C. aturucoa Lücking, Moncada & C. Vargas spec. nov., C. auriculeslia Moncada, Yánez-Ayabaca & Lücking spec. nov., C. barbifera Moncada, Patiño & Lücking spec. nov., C. boleslia Lücking, E. Morales & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. caliginosa Holgado, Rivas Plata & Perlmutter spec. nov., C. campestris Dal Forno, Eliasaro & Spielmann spec. nov., C. canari Nugra, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. caraana Lücking, Martins & Lucheta spec. nov., C. casasolana Moncada, R.-E. Pérez & Lücking spec. nov., C. caucensis Moncada, M. Gut. & Lücking spec. nov., C. celestinoa Moncada, Cabrera-Amaya & Lücking spec. nov., C. comaltepeca Moncada, R.-E. Pérez & Herrera-Camp. spec. nov., C. corani Lücking, E. Morales & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. corelleslia Moncada, A. Suárez-Corredor & Lücking spec. nov., C. crispoleslia Moncada, J. Molina & Lücking spec. nov., C. cuzcoensis Holgado, Rivas Plata & Perlmutter spec. nov., C. dalehana Moncada, Madriñán & Lücking spec. nov., C. davibogotana Lücking, Moncada & Coca spec. nov., C. davicrinita Moncada, Madriñán & Lücking spec. nov., C. davidia Moncada, L. Vargas & Lücking spec. nov., C. dewisanti Moncada, A. Suárez-Corredor & Lücking spec. nov., C. dulcis Moncada, R.-E. Pérez & Lücking spec. nov., C. elephas Lücking, Moncada & L. Vargas spec. nov., C. fuscodavidiana Lücking, Moncada & L. Vargas spec. nov., C. garagoa Simijaca, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov., C. gigantea Lücking, Moncada & Coca spec. nov., C. gomeziana Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. guajalitensis Lücking, Robayo & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. hafecesweorthensis Moncada, Lücking & R. Peláez spec. nov., C. haledana Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. hawksworthiana Dal Forno, P. Nelson & Lücking spec. nov., C. hochesuordensis Lücking, E. Morales & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. hymenocarpa Lücking, Chaves & Lawrey spec. nov., C. imi Lücking, Chaves & Lawrey spec. nov., C. itabaiana Dal Forno, Aptroot & M. Cáceres spec. nov., C. leslactuca Lücking, Moncada & R. Peláez spec. nov., C. maxima Wilk, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. minutula Lücking, Moncada & Yánez-Ayabaca spec. nov., C. palaeotropica Weerakoon, Aptroot & Lücking spec. nov., C. palustris Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. parabovei Dal Forno, Kukwa & Lücking spec. nov., C. paraciferrii Lücking, Moncada & J.E. Hern. spec. nov., C. paraminor Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. pastorum Moncada, Patiño & Lücking spec. nov., C. pichinchensis Paredes, Jonitz & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. pikynasa J.-M. Torres, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov., C. pseudobovei Wilk, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. pseudocorani Lücking, E. Morales & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. putumayensis L.J. Arias, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov., C. quillacinga Moncada, F. Ortega & Lücking spec. nov., C. rothesiorum Moncada, Madriñán & Lücking spec. nov., C. rubrosanguinea Nugra, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov., C. santacruzensis Dal Forno, Bungartz & Yánez-Ayabaca, spec. nov., C. schizophylloides Moncada, C. Rodríguez & Lücking spec. nov., C. smaragdina Lücking, Rivas Plata & Chaves spec. nov., C. soredavidia Dal Forno, Marcelli & Lücking spec. nov., C. subdavicrinita Moncada, J. Molina & Lücking spec. nov., C. suturifera Nugra, Besal & Lücking spec. nov., C. terrestris Dal Forno, Chaves & Lücking spec. nov., C. terricoleslia Wilk, Dal Forno & Lücking spec. nov., C. udebeceana Moncada, R. Peláez & Lücking spec. nov., C. urceolata Moncada, Coca & Lücking spec. nov., C. verjonensis Lücking, Moncada & Dal Forno spec. nov., C. viliewoa Lücking, Chaves & Soto-Medina spec. nov., and C. yukiboa Mercado-Díaz, Moncada & Lücking spec. nov. Furthermore, the taxonomic status of the recently described or recognized species C. arachnoidea, C. aspera, C. ciferrii, and C. reticulifera, is revised.

Fungal species are not immune to the threats facing animals and plants and are thus also prone to extinction. Yet, until 2015, fungi were nearly absent on the IUCN Red List. Recent efforts to identify fungal species under threat have significantly increased the number of published fungal assessments. The 597 species of fungi published in the 2022-1 IUCN Red List update (21 July 2022) are the basis for the first global review of the extinction risk of fungi and the threats they face. Nearly 50% of the assessed species are threatened, with 10% NT and 9% DD. For regions with a larger number of assessments (i.e., Europe, North America, and South America), subanalyses are provided. Data for lichenized and nonlichenized fungi are also summarized separately. Habitat loss/degradation followed by climate change, invasive species, and pollution are the primary identified threats. Bias in the data is discussed along with knowledge gaps. Suggested actions to address these gaps are provided along with a discussion of the use of assessments to facilitate on-the-ground conservation efforts. A research agenda for conservation mycology to assist in the assessment process and implementation of effective species/habitat management is presented.

This study is a re-assessment of basidiolichen diversity in the Galapagos Islands. We present a molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on 92 specimens from Galapagos, using two nuclear ribosomal DNA markers (ITS and nuLSU). We also re-examined the morphology and anatomy of all sequenced material. The molecular results confirm our previous assessment that all Galapagos basidiolichens belong to the Dictyonema clade, which in Galapagos is represented by four genera: Acantholichen, Cora, Cyphellostereum, and Dictyonema. Most species previously reported from Galapagos in these genera were at the time believed to represent widely distributed taxa. This conclusion, however, has changed with the inclusion of molecular data. Although almost the same number of species is distinguished, the phylogenetic data now suggest that all are restricted to the Galapagos Islands. Among them, six species are proposed here as new to science, namely Cora galapagoensis, Cyphellostereum unoquinoum, Dictyonema barbatum, D. darwinianum, D. ramificans, and D. subobscuratum; and four species have already been described previously, namely Acantholichen galapagoensis, Cora santacruzensis, Dictyonema pectinatum, and D. galapagoense, here recombined as Cyphellostereum galapagoense. Our analysis is set on a very broad phylogenetic framework, which includes a large number of specimens (N = 826) mainly from Central and South America, and therefore strongly suggests an unusually high level of endemism previously not recognized. This analysis also shows that the closest relatives of half of the basidiolichens now found in Galapagos are from mainland Ecuador, implying that they reached the islands through the shortest route, with all species arriving on the islands through independent colonization events.

We present a taxonomic revision of the lichenized basidiomycete genus Acantholichen, species of which produce a characteristic blue-gray, microsquamulose thallus with spiny apical hyphal cells known as acanthohyphidia. Since its discovery, the genus was thought to be monospecific, only including the generic type, A. pannarioides. However, a detailed morphological and anatomical study of recently collected specimens from the Galápagos, Costa Rica, Brazil and Colombia, combined with a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) region and 28S of the nuc rDNA and RPB2 sequences, revealed a much more diverse and widespread species assemblage. Based on the results of these analyses, we describe five new species in the genus: A. albomarginatus, A. campestris, A. galapagoensis, A. sorediatus and A. variabilis. We also provide an identification key to all species, anatomical and morphological descriptions, photographs and a table comparing main characters of each species.

Lichens collected worldwide for centuries have resulted in millions of specimens deposited in herbaria that offer the potential to assess species boundaries, phenotypic diversification, ecology, and distribution. The application of molecular approaches to historical collections has been limited due to DNA fragmentation, but high-throughput sequencing offers an opportunity to overcome this barrier. Here, we combined a large dataset of ITS sequences from recently collected material and historical collections, obtained through Sanger, 454, or Illumina Sequencing, to test the performance of ITS barcoding in two genera of lichenized Basidiomycota: Cora and Corella. We attempted to generate new sequence data for 62 fresh specimens (from 2016) and 274 historical collections (collected between 1888 and 1998), for a final dataset of 1325 sequences. We compared various quantitative approaches to delimit species (GMYC, bPTP, ASAP, ABGD) and tested the resolution and accuracy of the ITS fungal barcoding marker by comparison with a six-marker dataset. Finally, we quantitatively compared phylogenetic and phenotypic species delimitation for 87 selected Cora species that have been formally described. Our HTS approach successfully generated ITS sequences for 76% of the historical collections, and our results show that an integrative approach is the gold-standard for understanding diversity in this group.

Aim: Phylogenetic diversification is a precursor to speciation, but the underlying patterns and processes are not well‐studied in lichens. Here we investigate what factors drive diversification in two tropical, morphologically similar macrolichens that occupy a similar range but differ in altitudinal and habitat preferences, testing for isolation by distance (IBD), environment (IBE), and fragmentation (IBF).Location: Neotropics, Hawaii, Macaronesia.Taxon: Sticta andina,S. scabrosa(Peltigeraceae).Methods: We analysed 395 specimens from 135 localities, using the fungal ITS barcoding marker to assess phylogenetic diversification, through maximum likelihood tree reconstruction, TCS haplotype networks, and Tajima's D. Mantel tests were employed to detect structure in genetic vs. geographic, environmental, and fragmentation distances. Habitat preferences were quantitatively assessed by statistical analysis of locality‐based BIOclim variables.Results: Sticta andinaexhibited high phenotypic variation and reticulate phylogenetic diversity across its range, whereas the phenotypically uniformS. scabrosacontained two main haplotypes, one unique to Hawaii.Sticta andinais restricted to well‐preserved andine forests and paramos, naturally fragmented habitats due to disruptive topology, whereasS. scabrosathrives in lowland to lower montane zones in exposed or disturbed microsites, representing a continuous habitat.Sticta scabrosashowed IBD only across its full range (separating the Hawaiian population) but not within continental Central and South America, there exhibiting a negative Tajima's D.Sticta andinadid not exhibit IBD but IBE at continental level and IBF in the northern Andes.Main conclusions: Autecology, particularly preference for either low or high altitudes, indirectly drives phylogenetic diversification. Low diversification in the low altitude species,S. scabrosa, can be attributed to rapid expansion and effective gene flow across a more or less continuous niche due to disturbance tolerance. In contract, high diversification in the high altitude species,S. andina, can be explained by niche differentiation (IBE) and fragmentation (IBF) caused by the Andean uplift.