Erioderma pedicellatum

– Critically Endangered

Taxonomy

Kingdom:

FUNGI

Phylum:

ASCOMYCOTA

Class:

LECANOROMYCETES

Order:

LECANORALES

Family:

PANNARIACEAE

Scientific Name:

Erioderma pedicellatum

Species Authority:

(Hue) P.M.Jørg.

Common Name/s:

English

—

BOREAL FELT LICHEN

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:	CR A2c+4c ver 3.1 (2001)
Year Assessed:	2003
Assessor/s:	Scheidegger, C. (Lichen Specialist Group)
Evaluator/s:	Wolseley, P.A. & Smith, C. (Lichen Red List Authority)
Justification:	The generation time of Erioderma pedicellatum is roughly estimated to about 30 years. This is based on several hundred permanent plots established in Newfoundland where single thalli were observed over four years. For the assessment of the Red List status we therefore considered a period of about 100 years (three generations). During this period E. pedicellatum has completely disappeared from New Brunswick (Canada), Norway and Sweden. Populations in Nova Scotia have suffered a major decline (> 95% of the regional population size). Only in Newfoundland has a considerable regional population survived and is under permanent observation by regional forest and conservation authorities, and the Lichen Specialist Group of IUCN. A recent assessment of the Newfoundland population has suggested that this species is threatened based on thallus counts and a documented decline in the regional distribution (local subpopulations and habitat range). The major threats to this species are habitat destruction through logging and air pollution. The decline (considered irreversible) of the global population (i.e., loss of local subpopulations) is > 80%. The area of occupancy for the Newfoundland population is 23.35 km². The number of individuals in the Canadian subpopulation (based on thallus counts during the past five years) is about 5,074 thalli.

Geographic Range

Range Description:

Erioderma pedicellatum is an amphi-Alantic species known from Europe (Norway and Sweden) and Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland). Today, it is largely restricted to Newfoundland. Fourteen individuals are known from Nova Scotia and 5,060 individuals (thalli) have been documented from Newfoundland. The Newfoundland population comprises 84 localities. Even in the largest local subpopulations E. pedicellatum is a rather rare species and occurs on only a small percentage of suitable trees. In most cases only one thallus of this species is found on a tree.

Countries:

Native:

Canada (New Brunswick - regionally extinct, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia)

Regionally extinct:

Norway; Sweden

Population

Population Trend:

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

Erioderma pedicellatum is an epiphytic species with narrow habitat requirements (primarily old growth, highly oceanic coniferous forests). In Sweden and Norway the species grew on twigs of Norway Spruce (Picea abies) in a unique type of temperate rainforest. In Newfoundland this lichen grows predominantly on the trunks of Abies balsamea and rarely on trunks or twigs of Picea mariana.

System:

Terrestrial

List of Habitats:

1.1	Forest - Boreal

Threats

Threats:

Threatened by forest management and is highly sensitive to atmospheric air pollutants such as acid rain.

List of Threats:

1.3.3.3	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Extraction - Wood - Clear-cutting (ongoing)
1.5	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Invasive alien species (ongoing)
6.1.2	Pollution (affecting habitat and/or species) - Atmospheric pollution - Acid precipitation (ongoing)
9.1	Intrinsic factors - Limited dispersal (ongoing)
9.5	Intrinsic factors - Low densities (ongoing)
9.7	Intrinsic factors - Slow growth rates (ongoing)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

The status of the areas of some of the largest subpopulations in Newfoundland is still a matter of debate. The habitats of the former Norwegian populations were suggested as nature reserves. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has designated the 'Atlantic population' (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) as Endangered and the 'Boreal population' (Newfoundland) as Special Concern.

List of Conservation Actions:

1.1.1	Policy-based actions - Management plans - Development (needed)
1.2.1.2	Policy-based actions - Legislation - Development - National level (in place)
1.2.2.2	Policy-based actions - Legislation - Implementation - National level (in place)
3.3	Research actions - Biology and Ecology (needed)
3.6	Research actions - Uses and harvest levels (needed)
3.9	Research actions - Trends/Monitoring (needed)
4.1	Habitat and site-based actions - Maintenance/Conservation (needed)
4.4.2	Habitat and site-based actions - Protected areas - Establishment (needed)
4.5	Habitat and site-based actions - Community-based initiatives (in place)
5.1	Species-based actions - Re-introductions (needed)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Ahlner, S. 1948. Utbredningstyper bland Nordiska Barrträdslavar. Almquist and Wiksells, Uppsala.

Ahti, T. and Jørgensen, P. 1971. Notes on the lichens of Newfoundland. I. Erioderma boreale, new to North America. The Bryologist 74: 378-381.

Holien, H., Gaarder, G. and Hapnes, A. 1995. Erioderma pedicellatum still present, but highly endangered in Europe. Graphis Scripta 7(2): 79-84.

Jørgensen, P.M. 1972. Erioderma pedicellatum (= E. boreale) in New Brunswick, Canada. The Bryologist 75: 369-371.

Jørgensen, P.M. 1990. Erioderma pedicellatum (Hue) P. M. Jorg.: Norway's most enigmatic plant? Blyttia 48: 119-123.

Maass, W. 1980. Erioderma pedicellatum in North America: a case study of a rare and endangered lichen. Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science 30: 69-87.

Maass, W. 1983. New observations on Erioderma in North America. Nordic Journal of Botany 3: 567-576.

Maass, W. and Yetman, D. 2001. COSEWIC status report on Erioderma pedicellatum in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa.

Scheidegger, C. 1998. Erioderma pedicellatum: a Critically Endangered lichen species. Species 30: 68-69.

Tønsberg, T., Gauslaa, Y., Haugan, R., Holien, H. and Timdal, E. 1996. The threatened macrolichens of Norway - 1995. Sommerfeltia 23: 1-258.

Citation:	Scheidegger, C. 2003. Erioderma pedicellatum. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 29 August 2008.
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