Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1992, Page 60

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THE LICHENS OF THE FAROES
72% is found in the temperate zone and
only 66% in the arctic, it was expected that
the flora could be characterised as boreal-
temperate more than boreal-arctic, but on
the contrary, the lastmentioned group a-
mounts to 95%, while the boreal-temperate
elements combined reach only 87%. This
support Tuhkanen’s (57) view that the low-
land belongs to the hemiboreal zone and
the mountains to the orohemiarctic.
12% of the species show distinct ocean-
ic distribution, 11 % is found only along the
coasts of northern Europe and the arctic,
while 3% are known also from more south-
em coasts of the Mediterranean or Macaro-
nesian region.
The lowland has been most thoroughly
investigated, as many highland areas are
difficult to reach. 84% of the species are
known from the lowland and only 39%
from the highland, but more collecting at
higher altitudes may change that some-
what. Apart from the strictly coastal
species and a few species of a southem dis-
tribution most of the others may eventually
also be found at high altitudes. But there
seems to be a small group of species
restricted to the highland. Bryoria nitidula,
B. tenuis, Catolechia wahlenbergii, Pyre-
nopsis pulvinata, Sagiolechia rhexoble-
phara, Schaereria cinereorufa, Solorina
bispora and Stereocaulon capitellatum
have probably not been overlooked in the
lowland.
There is hardly any difference in the
lichen flora between the islands as the con-
ditions including climate and substrate are
very similar, except that some islands are
higher than others.
In table 1 and 2 the following abbreviations
are used:
A: Arctic (Greenland, major parts of
Iceland, Svalbard etc.);
S: Alpine in Scandinavia and/or Scotland;
C: Alpine/montane in Central Europe;
B: Boreal (coniferous forest belt);
T: Temperate (decideous forest belt);
M: Mediterranean, subtropical climate;
NO: North oceanic-maritime (N Europe-
Arctic);
SO: South oceanic-maritime (S
Scandinavia-Macaronesia);
NA: North America (USA and Canada);
L: Lowland (in the Faroes);
H: Highland (in the Faroes).