Updates and Additions to the Lichen Checklist of Mount Mitchell State Park, North Carolina, with Conservation Proposals for Five Rare Species.

A survey of the lichens of Mount Mitchell State Park, North Carolina, published in 2017, recovered 171 species and reported 27 historically reported taxa missing. Here we report 72 lichen taxa as new for the park—based on both recent and historical specimens—for a total of 243 total taxa reported for all time points. In addition, 13 of the 27 taxa reported missing for the park in the 2017 survey were rediscovered. Most of these were found by either investigating non-spruce-fir substrates, which was the focus of the most recent survey in 2016, or returning to localities where historical specimens had previously been collected and intensively searching for the species. A revised list of 27 taxa that have not been seen since at least the early 1970s is presented, nine of which belong to the speciose genus Cladonia. The updated checklist for the park contains a surprisingly high level of cyanolichen diversity, suggesting the impacts of pollution and invasive insects on the lichen biota of the park are not as severe as previously thought. Molecular data (nrITS) confirm that Parmelia neodiscordans is distinct from other species of Parmelia and suggest that Appalachian material identified as P. omphalodes may be conspecific with the eastern Asian species P. ‘fertilis B’. Lastly, five rare lichens recorded from the park (Alectoria fallacina, Hypotrachyna densirhizinata, Lobarina scrobiculata, Nephroma parile and Parmelia neodiscordans) are proposed for conservation at the state level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]