Uholka primeval forest in the Ukrainian Carpathians - a keynote area for diversity of forest lichens in Europe

One of the largest European primeval forests, Uholka-Shyrokyi Luh in the Ukrainian Carpathians, has received increased attention in recent years. In spring 2015 we explored the lichen biota in the southern part of the reserve. Species richness of epiphytic and epixylic lichens presented in this paper far exceeds all numbers achieved in other Central European old-growth forests. In total, 370 lichenized and lichen-allied fungi and 30 lichenicolous fungi were recorded. We focused on forest lichens on organic substrata, inorganic substrata were largely ignored. Species composition in the Uholka forest includes many rare taxa and typical old-growth forest species: e.g. Cetrelia spp., Gyalecta spp., Leptogium saturninum, Lobaria pulmonaria, Ricasolia amplissima, Sclerophora farinacea, S. pallida, Thelopsis flaveola and T. rubella. Opegrapha fumosa, Pyrenula chlorospila and P. dermatodes represent oceanic species that are very rare outside western Europe. Biatora longispora, Calicium montanum, Menegazzia subsimilis, Micarea perparvula, Ochrolechia trochophora, Pyxine sorediata, Ramonia luteola and Thelotrema suecicum are examples of phytogeographically remarkable or generally very rare lichens. Thirty lichenized and ten lichenicolous fungi are new to Ukraine, including Biatora bacidioides and Pertusaria macounii not previously reported from Europe.