From Bologna to the Dolomites, the online inventory-map of all lichens arrives

Here comes a database that can be consulted online which includes more than 1750 species of lichens registered in the Dolomites and geolocalized:it was created by scientists from the Alma mater who also studied herbaria from the 19th century

BOLOGNA – From the university classrooms of Bologna to the Alps, to do an inventory of lichens in the Dolomites and realize a database that can be consulted online.In this way it will be easier to study the response of these organisms to pollution and climate change.It is the work, one might say impressive, and continuously updated, of the scientists from the Alma Mater which so far have collected and made available approximately 75,000 pieces of data relating to approximately 1,750 species, more than half of those known for the entire Alpine range.The research project, presented in the journal MycoKeys, is coordinated by Juri Nascimbene, professor of Systematic Botany at the University of Bologna.“Despite the fact that the Dolomite region is among the Italian areas best known and explored by lichenologists - he explains - until now there was no summary with publicly available data.But inventories of this type are of extreme importance for developing research in the naturalistic field and promoting the conservation of biodiversity."

Click here to access the catalog database

Lichens, which are harmful a valuable contribution to the functioning of ecosystems, are organisms very sensitive to climate change and pollution.Yet they are still relatively little known today and are often excluded from conservation actions.Hence the long and complex work of the Alma Mater scholars, who have aggregated data from numerous sources from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day.“All available literature was consulted, including gray literature such as degree theses, which contain data that are not easily accessible - explains Nascimbene - historical herbaria of local interest were then consulted and reviewed and unpublished data from the scientific activity of our research group have also been added."

All the reports present in the database on lichens in the Dolomites have also been geolocalised.“Each collection location was identified on the map, thus assigning a pair of coordinates, when not present - confirms Nascimbene - for historical data this operation proved to be a real challenge.It was necessary consult ancient maps, as toponyms have frequently changed over time or have been abandoned".

The oldest data on lichens in the Dolomites come from the herbarium samples of Alberto Parolini (1788-1867), Italian botanist who mainly explored the Venetian Prealps during the first half of the 19th century.In the 1980s, the newfound national interest in lichenology led to frequent new explorations, monitoring activities and collaborations with protected areas and territorial bodies.

All this data has now converged into the new online catalogue edited by scholars of the Alma Mater.“This project not only expands our scientific knowledge - underlines Nascimbene - but promotes future studies aimed at the conservation and valorization of lichens.Having data from two centuries of exploration available, with accurate information on the collection location, provides us with the fundamental tools on which to base future biogeographical, taxonomic and floristic research, aimed at fully understanding the responses of lichens to global changes" .