Lichenicolous fungi in Iğdır province , Turkey

As a result of lichenological exploration in the province of Iğdır, Turkey, forty species of lichenicolous fungi belonging to eighteen genera were identified on twenty-seven different lichenized fungi. Four lichenicolous fungi—Arthonia protoparmeliopsidis, Lichenostigma radicans, L. subradians and Sclerococcum sphaerale—represent new records for Turkey. In addition, A. protoparmeliopsidis is new to Asia and Gemmaspora lecanorae was found for the second time on Aspicilia sp. Geographical distributions are also presented.

No lichenicolous fungi have thus far been reported for the Iğdır province, although 14 lichens have been recorded for the region (Aptroot & Yazici 2012;Vondrák et al. 2012;Yazici et al. 2012;Yazici et al. 2011c).In this paper, we report four lichenicolous fungi that represent new records for the Iğdır region and for Turkey.

Collection sites
During lichenological field studies carried out between 28 March 2010 and 14 June 2011, specimens were collected from 41 sites within the Iğdır region (Tab.1).Lichenicolous fungi species were collected from an area near the capital city of Iğdır (central Iğdır province), as well as from the districts of Tuzluca, Aralık, Karakoyunlu (Fig. 1).The province of Iğdır is in eastern Turkey, bordering Armenia, Nakhchivan and Iran.The adjacent provinces are Kars to the northwest and Ağrı to the west and south.Iğdır occupies an area of 3587 km 2 and has a population of 184,418 (Fig. 1).
The Iğdır province, where the vegetation is comprised primarily of grassy plants, is one of several poorly forested areas of mainly steppe in Turkey.In northern and southeastern Iğdır, in the Karakoyunlu and Aralık districts, as well as to the north and east of the Tuzluca district, there are many treeless grassy plains.The area is sunny, windswept and open.The gently sloping terrain features streams and grassy areas, with calcareous and siliceous rocks.Some of the mountains, including Ağrı, Zordağ, Tekaltı, Oyuklu and Ziyaret, which are exposed to intense light conditions, are also dominated by grass, rocks (siliceous and calcareous) and streams, with scattered coniferous and deciduous trees, such as Elaeagnus, Populus, Prunus, Pyrus and Salix (Baytop & Denizci 1963).
According to Baytop & Denizci (1963), Prunus, Pyrus, Populus, Salix, and Elaeagnus trees occur occasionally along the streams in many villages, such as Köprübaşı and Sürmeli (in the Tuzluca district); Saraçlı, Aşağı Çamurlu, Hasanhan, Babacan and Aşağı Topraklı (in the Aralık district); and Gökçeli, Cennetabat and Bayatdoğanşalı (in the Karakoyunlu district).Calcareous and siliceous rocks are seen in many villages in the southern parts of the Iğdır region.Very few lichen and lichenicolous fungi species were seen in some villages, especially along Aras River, which forms the border with Armenia in the north of Iğdır.
there are few deciduous or coniferous trees.In those villages, especially those on the Korhan plateau, the rocks are predominantly volcanic.At an elevation of 2000-3200 m, we observed mostly crustose lichens on volcanic rocks.On the Korhan plateau, the tree population is very poor, comprising only certain deciduous trees, such as Betula and Populus.
Therefore, the population of lichen and lichenicolous fungi on the body of trees is poor, with little biodiversity.
The climate in the Iğdır region is characterized by hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters.The mean annual temperature is 11.6°C, with a mean annual humidity of 63% and a mean annual rainfall of 257.6 mm (Akman 1999).

Collection, storage and processing of samples
Hand-cut sections were microscopically examined in water (including all measurements), 10% potassium hydroxide or lactophenol cotton blue.Air-dried samples were observed and studied with a Nikon SMZ1500 stereomicroscope and a Nikon Eclipse 80i light microscope (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan).Descriptions of the species are based on the materials collected from the area and on data in the literature.Nomenclature and species concepts follow Atienza et al. (2003), Hawksworth (2003), Santesson et al. (2004), Halici et al. (2007), Etayo & Sancho (2008), Etayo & Navarro-Rosinés (2008) and Navarro-Rosinés et al. (2009).Voucher specimens were stored in the Herbarium of the Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey (KTUB).
The most common genera of lichenicolous fungi identified were Lichenostigma, Cercidospora and Arthonia, and the most common species were Caloplaca grimmiae, Carbonea vitellinaria, Cercidospora macrospora, Lichenostigma dime-laenae, L. elongatum, Muellerella erratica and M. pygmaea.We found eight lichenicolous fungi at sites 21 and 32; seven species at site 30; and six species at sites 2, 20 and 29.The host preference of lichenicolous fungi, especially that of those representing new records, was found to be largely identical to that reported in the literature (Hawksworth 2003;Etayo & Sancho 2008;Halici 2008).
It is of note that all samples were found on the host thalli of 26 different crustose or foliose lichens, collected mostly from rocks.Although the Iğdır province is one of the poorest regions of Turkey, in terms of the amount of forest cover, and is dominated by steppe, the lichenicolous biodiversity was moderately rich.This might be attributable to the Mediterranean climate of the area.
All of the species of lichenicolous fungi listed here represent new records for the Iğdır region, and four (Arthonia protoparmeliopsidis, Lichenostigma radicans, Lichenostigma subradians and Sclerococcum sphaerale) are new to Turkey.In addition, A. protoparmeliopsidis is new to Asia.