On the range and ecology of the poorly studied lichen Umbilicaria kisovana

Data on the distribution of the lichen species Umbilicaria kisovana, identified in Baikal Siberia during a revision of Umbilicaria collections gathered in the region between 1963 and 1998, are presented. A total of 39 specimens were identified as U. kisovana from the Eastern Sayan Mountains (Prisayanye, Tunka Goltsy), Pribaikalie (Olkhinskoye Plateau, Primorsky, Baikalsky, and Khamar-Daban ranges), and the Stanovoye Nagorie Upland (Yuzhno-Muya, Kalarsky, Kodar, Udokan, and Yankan ranges). The species is reported for the first time from the Irkutsk Region and the Republic of Buryatia, with its westernmost localities recorded here. The speciesʼ ecological features, including its inhabiting siliceous rocks, as well as the nature of its geographical range in relation to its origin, are discussed. It is suggested that the current apparent disjunction between the East Asian and Siberian parts of its range is likely an artifact of insufficient lichenological exploration of Eastern Siberia. The range of U. kisovana is compared with the ranges of the woody plants Pinus pumila, Chosenia arbutifolia, Populus suaveolens, and Betula ermanii, with which it shares similarities, as all extend into East Asia. It is proposed to characterize the range of Umbilicaria kisovana as Baikal-East Asian or Northeast Asian.