Biodiversity of the epiphytic lichenic vegetation in the Alentejo Coast (area of Sines)

Study Extent

The data collection work for the paper Biodiversity of the epiphytic lichenic vegetation in the Alentejo Coast (area of Sines) took place during 1997 and 1998. The study area is located along the coast of Alentejo, between Serra de Grândola and Serra da Brejeira. Grândola and Brejeira, in an extension parallel to the coast that occupies approximately 30x90 km. In this area the maximum altitude reached is 431 meters at Serra da Brejeira.

Sampling

The study of lichenic diversity was based on 77 floristic inventories carried out at the sites and on the phorophytes selected in the work carried out between 1975 and 1981 (JONES 1983). The phorophytes are respectively: Olea europaea, Ficus carica, Morus nigra, Arbustus unedo and Quercus suber. The floristic study consisted in the collection and identification of all species found. This study resulted in a herbarium collection, which is housed in the Museum and Botanical Garden (LISU) and includes, at least and whenever possible, a representative specimen of each species found in the area. The method used for this work differs slightly from that used in the past, since the present study took into consideration all the epiphytic lichen flora found at each site, whereas in the study carried out in the 1980s only the species which could be identified in situ were recorded. During the current study, the same phorophytes that had been studied previously were observed in each site whenever possible. The recognition of the trees was possible due to the signs left in the previous study. However, as could be expected, during the seventeen years between the two studies, numerous alterations have occurred in the area, sometimes leading to the cutting of trees that had initially been selected. In these cases, new observations were made on site in the same type of forophyll. The numbering of the sites is the same as previously used.

Quality Control

All initial data was inserted in a specific relational database built specifically for the project, which implemented several quality control methods. In the preparation of the dataset for GBIF publication, data consistency was verified using cluster algorithms using OpenRefine.

Method steps

1. The following steps were performed: - information was extracted from the paper regarding the sampling sites and the floristic list, which resulted in two tables: events and occurrences, respectively; - the original coordinates in European 1950 UTM were converted to decimal latitude and longitude in WGS84 datum using "MRGS to Lat Long" (http://82.154.207.91:8080/Porbiota_Web_Apps/MGRStoLatLon).
2. catalogNumber: refers to the catalogue number of the specimens collected during the study and deposited in the LISU collection of Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa. Besides those mentioned in the occurrences dataset, there are still more specimens in collection, which despite not being mentioned in this study, are from the same area (Beja and Setubal district). Please find below the catalogue numbers and collection locations: Cladonia firma (Nyl.) Nyl. | 240923 | Portugal, Beja, Barrancos Cladonia firma (Nyl.) Nyl. | 240925 | Portugal, Beja, Barrancos Cliostomum griffithii (Sm.) Coppins | 183870 | Portugal, Beja, Barrancos Collema occultatum Bagl. | 189349 | Portugal, Beja, Moura Collema subnigrescens Degel. | 253342 | Portugal, Beja Fuscopannaria mediterranea (Tav.) P.M. Jörg. | 185047 | Portugal, Setúbal, Grândola Fuscopannaria mediterranea (Tav.) P.M. Jörg. | 185048 | Portugal, Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém Hypotrachyna sinuosa (Sm.) Hale | 185361 | Portugal, Setúbal, Sines Koerberia biformis A. Massal. | 184558 | Portugal, Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém Lobaria amplissima (Scop.) Forssell | 240946 | Portugal, Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém Lobaria pulmonaria (L.) Hoffm. | 184878 | Portugal, Setúbal, Grândola Lobaria pulmonaria (L.) Hoffm. | 184877 | Portugal, Setúbal, Grândola Naetrocymbe punctiformis (Pers.) R.C. Harris | 183598 | Portugal, Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém Ochrolechia pallescens (L.) A. Massal. | 240944 | Portugal, Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém Parmelina tiliacea (Hoffm.) Hale | 185447 | Portugal, Setúbal, Grândola Parmotrema austrosinense (Zahlbr.) Hale | 185100 | Portugal, Setúbal, Grândola Parmotrema austrosinense (Zahlbr.) Hale | 185101 | Portugal, Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém Physconia enteroxantha (Nyl.) Poelt | 189633 | Portugal, Setúbal, Grândola Physconia enteroxantha (Nyl.) Poelt | 189635 | Portugal, Setúbal, Grândola Sticta fuliginosa (Dicks.) Ach. | 240958 | Portugal, Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém Usnea | 240949 | Portugal, Setúbal Usnea | 240960 | Portugal, Setúbal, Sines Usnea | 240961 | Portugal, Beja, Mértola Usnea rubicunda Stirt. | 186745 | Portugal, Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém Waynea stoechadiana (Abassi & Cl. Roux) Cl. Roux & P. Clerc | 184529 | Portugal, Setúbal, Santiago do Cacém

This dataset includes 1993 records referring to human observations of 14 different orders: Monoblastiales, Verrucariales, Caliciales, Arthoniales, Pleosporales, Lecanorales, Teloschistales, Candelariales, Peltigerales, Ostropales, Umbilicariales, Mycocaliciales, Pertusariales and Coryneliales. There is 34 different families, 151 species and 1 subspecies.

1. Monoblastiaceae
   rank: family
2. Verrucariaceae
   rank: family
3. Caliciaceae
   rank: family
4. Arthoniaceae
   rank: family
5. Naetrocymbaceae
   rank: family
6. Ramalinaceae
   rank: family
7. Teloschistaceae
   rank: family
8. Candelariaceae
   rank: family
9. Chrysotrichaceae
   rank: family
10. Cladoniaceae
    rank: family
11. Collemataceae
    rank: family
12. Pannariaceae
    rank: family
13. Coenogoniaceae
    rank: family
14. Parmeliaceae
    rank: family
15. Gyalectaceae
    rank: family
16. Physciaceae
    rank: family
17. Ophioparmaceae
    rank: family
18. Thelenellaceae
    rank: family
19. Koerberiaceae
    rank: family
20. Lecanographaceae
    rank: family
21. Lecanoraceae
    rank: family
22. Stereocaulaceae
    rank: family
23. Leprocaulaceae
    rank: family
24. Lobariaceae
    rank: family
25. Pilocarpaceae
    rank: family
26. Mycocaliciaceae
    rank: family
27. Nephromataceae
    rank: family
28. Ochrolechiaceae
    rank: family
29. Opegraphaceae
    rank: family
30. Pertusariaceae
    rank: family
31. Phlyctidaceae
    rank: family
32. Roccellaceae
    rank: family
33. Coryneliaceae
    rank: family
34. Mycoblastaceae
    rank: order
35. Monoblastiales
    rank: order
36. Verrucariales
    rank: order
37. Caliciales
    rank: order
38. Arthoniales
    rank: order
39. Pleosporales
    rank: order
40. Lecanorales
    rank: order
41. Teloschistales
    rank: order
42. Candelariales
    rank: order
43. Peltigerales
    rank: order
44. Ostropales
    rank: order
45. Umbilicariales
    rank: order
46. Mycocaliciales
    rank: order
47. Pertusariales
    rank: order
48. Coryneliales
    rank: order
49. Dothideomycetes
    rank: class
50. Eurotiomycetes
    rank: class
51. Lecanoromycetes
    rank: class
52. Arthoniomycetes
    rank: class
53. Candelariomycetes
    rank: class
54. Ascomycota
    rank: phylum
55. Fungi
    rank: kingdom

The sampling area for the inventory of the Biodiversity of lichens epiphytic vegetation was carried out in the Alentejo coast, specifically in the district of Sines and Beja.