Lichens and allied fungi of two Regional Parks in Vilnius area (Lithuania)

two regional Parks – Verkiai and Pavilniai are situated in Vilnius city area comprising territories both of the city itself and Vilnius district and are under strong anthropogenic influence. During the present study 172 species of lichens, lichenicolous and saprobic fungi were revealed in Verkiai rP and 92 species – in Pavilniai rP. three lichen species – Absconditella pauxilla , Thelenella pertusariella (in Verkiai rP), Bacidia caligans (in Pavilniai rP) and one saprobic fungus – Chaenothecopsis debilis (in Verkiai rP) are reporded for the first time in Lithuania. Seven lichen species of Lithuanian red Data Book were recorded, all of them only in Verkiai rP; this indicates less strong anthropogenic impact and better conditions for biodiversity in this Park.

this paper presents first detailed study of lichen biota in both Verkiai and Pavilniai regional parks.
StuDY area Pavilniai regional Park is situated at the southeastern edge of Vilnius city (Fig. 1). it occupies 2153 ha area, which includes territories of both Vilnius city and Vilnius district (54 o 39 '-43'n, 25 o 19'-25'e).this smallest regional Park in Lithuania was established in 1992 (since 1984 this was territory of the nature Park) to protect Fig. 1.Location of Verkiai (1) and Pavilniai (2) regional Parks (map from state cadastre of protected areas: http://stk.vstt.lt,modified).landscape of eroded ravine, hill system and valley of Vilnia river.though part of the Park is Vilnius city, there are still numerous close-to-natural or seminatural forests with large diversity of vascular plants (forest covers 76,5 % of the Park area).10 Preserves and one Strict nature reserve warrant protection of rare plant species and communities as well as landscape formations.especially valuable is the area of Kalnai Strict nature reserve with diverse forest stand communities occupying relief with hills and ravines.
Verkiai regional Park is situated at the northeastern edge of Vilnius city (Fig. 1), it occupies 2673 ha area, which includes territories of both Vilnius city and Vilnius district (54 o 44'-50'n, 25 o 17 '-22'e).the Park was established in 1992 to protect landscape of Žalieji ežerai lakes' complex and valuable cultural complexes of Verkiai, Kalvarijos and trinapolis.Forest covers 76 % of the Park area.Southern part of the Park comprises mainly cultural objects; meanwhile northern is rich in nature values.especially valuable is forest-covered hilly area with five glacial lakes, which are called Žalieji ("green") due to greenish colour of water with high content of carbonates.calcareous soils, beneficial microclimate and hilly relief ensure existence of exceptionally rich plant diversity (Kirstukas 2004).
Both regional Parks are under strong anthropogenic influence: some part of both comprises built-up areas, both parks are popular recreation zones for city people.Besides, Pavilniai Park is strongly influenced by the emissions of Vilnius city transport and industrial objects.

MateriaL anD MetHoDS
Lichens and allied fungi were collected in 2006 from the whole territory of Verkiai and Pavilniai regional Parks.all habitats and substrates were considered.Lichens were identified following routine microscopic techniques; sterile corticolous lichens as well as some specimens of Cladonia genus were identified employing tLc (methodology following orange et al. 2001).critical specimens were compared with the identified collections at the herbaria of the Botanical Museum, university of copenhagen (c) and of the Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem (B).Voucher specimens of the study are deposited in the Herbarium of the institute of Botany (Vilnius) (BiLaS).

LiSt oF SPecieS
new species to Lithuania are marked with !, lichenicolous fungi are marked with #, non-lichenized saprobic fungi are marked with +. nomenclature basically follows Santesson et al. (2004), also further sources such as Blanco et al. (2004), Lücking et al. (2004), Veldkamp (2004)   Absconditella pauxilla is a rare species, so far mainly reported from western europe, also known from Sweden (Santesson et al. 2004), czech republic (Palice 1999) and northern Poland (czarnota, Kukwa 2008).apparently it is mainly confined to dead bryophytes and more rarely to wood in humid situations.Present find in Lithuania confirms ecological requirements of this species earlier mentioned by other authors: the lichen inhabited patch of dead mosses growing on the lake shore.
Bacidia caligans is being reported during the last 20 years with increasing frequency: it was found in a number of countries of northern, central and southern europe.Very often it is recorded from anthropogenic substrates or habitats under strong anthropogenic influence, e. g. trees and shrubs in cities and towns (aptroot et al. 2005;Diederich 1989;Kowalewska, Kukwa 2003), stone buildings and urban wasteland (coppins 1992; gilbert 1990; Larsen 1995), therefore it is quite possible to assume that the lichen is spreading recently.in our case B. caligans was found on branches of Sambucus racemosa in a suburban forest with low lichen diversity, apparently influenced by transport and industrial emissions of the city.
Chaenothecopsis debilis is a widely distributed saprobic calicioid fungus found on lignum of various trees (tibell 1999). of all species of the genus, which were recorded in Lithuania, it is distinguished mainly by chemical reactions with K and Hno 3 .C. debilis apparently is not common in Lithuania, as it becomes more rare southwards of the boreal zone and, though not uncommon in Fenoscandia, it was recorded only in few countries of central and Southern europe (tibell 1999; titov 2006 and literature cited therein).
During the present study 7 lichen species of Lithuanian red Data Book (LrDB) were registered (all only in Verkiai rP) (tab.1): 2 species of category 1 (e): Nephroma parile (1 locality), Cladonia parasitica (1 locality); 3 species of category 2 (V): Cetrelia olivetorum (2 localities), Lobaria pulmonaria (2 localities), Phaeophyscia endophoenicea (1 locality) and 2 species of category 3 (r): Hypotrachyna revoluta (1 locality), Ramalina baltica (2 localities).almost all their localities (except Cladonia parasitica, one locality of Cetrelia olivetorum and one locality of Ramalina baltica) were situated in Žalieji ežerai Landscape Preserve where fragments of old hardwood and hardwood-spruce forests are still present.a decade earlier three more LrDB species were found in Verkiai rP, which where not registered during present study, maybe overlooked: Arthonia didyma Körb , Chaenotheca chlorella (ach.)Müll.arg.and Lecanora albella (Pers.)ach.(Motiejūnaitė 1999(Motiejūnaitė , 2007a)).2002;Motiejūnaitė et al. 2004) were registered, meanwhile only four indicators were found in Pavilniai rP (tab.1).notably, the latter park not only bore lower numbers of rare and vulnerable species, but their abundance was visibly lower than in Verkiai rP: e.g., Arthonia byssacea was common in Verkiai rP, meanwhile in Pavilniai it was found only on one phorophyte; Pseudosagedia aenea and Chaenotheca brachypoda were also quite common in Verkiai rP, but both were found only on one phorophyte every in Pavilniai rP.Chaenotheca phaeocephala, however, was uncommon in both parks.concLuSionS evaluation of diversity of lichen biota of Verkiai and Pavilniai regional Parks shows strong differences due to different anthropogenic pressure induced on both territories.Verkiai rP, at least in parts, has still preserved qualities of biocentre of lichens characteristic of old-growth forests, meanwhile Pavilniai rP bear nothing more than common lichen biota of suburban areas.Verkiai rP, especially Žalieji ežerai Landscape Preserve is still a refugium for several very rare and vulnerable species in Lithuania, such as Nephroma parile and Cladonia parasitica.Vulnerable and rapidly declining lichen Lobaria pulmonaria is still found in large and viable pupulations.the gravest dangers for the habitats of these lichens are transport and related air pollution as well as increasing stress of recreational activities.

table 1
Data of diversity of lichens and allied fungi in Verkiai and Pavilniai regional Parks lichens, indicators of biologically rich forests (andersson et al.