In: Sydowia 74, (2021): 015-031; ISSN 0082-0598, DOI 10.12905/0380.sydowia74-2021-0015, Published online on May 19,2021

Lichenized fungi of the arid zones of central Mexico:
new records for the country and the state of
Aguascalientes

Mónica I. Miguel-Vázquez, Diego Simijaca, Rosa E. Pérez-Pérez & Gilberto Ocampo

Departamento de Biología, Centro de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Av. Universidad 940,
Ciudad Universitaria, Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico
2 Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Ciudad Universitaria, Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

e-mail: gilberto.ocampo@edu.uaa.mx

Miguel-Vázquez M.I., Simijaca D., Pérez-Pérez R.E. & Ocampo G. (2021) Lichenized fungi of the arid zones of central Mexico:
new records for the country and the state of Aguascalientes. – Sydowia 74: 15–31.
The lichen biota of several regions of Mexico is scarcely known, including the central part of the country, where the state
of Aguascalientes is located. Before this study, lichen records of Aguascalientes were almost nonexistent. The aim of this work
was to catalogue the lichen biota from arid environments of Aguascalientes, a widespread habitat in this part of Mexico. A
total of 253 samples were collected and 20 families, 44 genera, and 56 lichen species were detected. The families with the highest
species richness are Physciaceae (13) and Verrucariaceae (nine); the genus with the highest number of species is Physcia
(Physciaceae; five). The lichenized fungi identified up to species level were found growing mainly on rock (33) and bark (14).
The most common growth forms were crustose (55 %) and foliose (43 %). All species (56) are new records for Aguascalientes;
Phaeophyscia hirtella (Physciaceae) and Scytinium subaridum (Collemataceae) are, in addition, new records for the country,
and seven species represent the second collection documented for Mexico. This is the first work on the lichens of Aguascalientes.
The results contribute to the biodiversity knowledge of Mexico and remark the need to increase efforts to improve the
Mexican lichen biota inventory.

Keywords: arid environments, diversity, illustrated checklist, lichen collection, North America.