Lichens are organisms that are composed of a fungus and an alga, in a symbiotic relationship that allows both to occupy habitats that would be inhospitable to the separate components. They include a significant percentage of all fungi. Lichens are critical components of many terrestrial ecosystems yet they remain largely understudied. There are immense gaps in our knowledge regarding lichen diversity, and these gaps impede efforts to devise and implement unified strategies for sustainable biodiversity conservation. In North America, the only comprehensive regional treatments of lichens are outdated and cover areas in the glaciated regions of the northern United States and Canada. It has been estimated that 10-20% of the North American lichen biota is unknown to science and preliminary work indicates that in the Ozarks alone about 75 species of lichens seem to be previously unknown. To help remedy this, Richard Harris (New York Botanical Garden) and Doug Ladd (The Nature Conservancy, Missouri Chapter) will prepare a comprehensive treatment of the lichens of the Ozark Highlands of central North America, known to be a center of biological richness for diverse groups of plants and animals. The area is primarily within southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, but also includes portions of Oklahoma, Illinois, and Kansas. The Ozarks include the oldest continuously exposed rock in North America, contain the largest contiguous woodland remaining in the midcontinent, and are the subject of increasing conservation interest and activity. Within the Ozarks, many habitats are dominated by lichens, and they have the potential to be effective for ecological monitoring and assessment. Building on initial work completed during the past 15 years, Harris and Ladd will produce a comprehensive, illustrated account of the Ozark lichen biodiversity. The results of the proposed work will be directly relevant to ongoing conservation planning and implementation, and will serve to increase the effectiveness of conservation efforts by multiple agencies and organizations. This would include updated proposals for rare and endangered lichens within Missouri and Arkansas for use by conservation agencies, both private and governmental. Additionally, two educational components will help increase the visibility of this very diverse, but little-studied group. These are an educational workshop primarily geared toward amateurs, and a graduate student opportunity in lichenology. The accessibility of this knowledge on lichens will be available to both academic and industrial scientists. Because of the antiquity of the Ozark lichens they are often of special interest to academic biologists because they help resolve phylogenetic relationships within the lichens as a whole. Because of the large and diverse assemblage of chemical compounds produced by lichens, including those with antibiotic properties, they are of special interest to industrial biologists.
