Where am I? > Home > Articles > Volume 48
Research article

https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.48.021

Revealing the lichenised and lichenicolous diversity of Parangalitsa Reserve, Bulgaria: first records of two noteworthy species for the country


Snezhina Popova https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1874-5366; Veselin V. Shivarov https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8469-4254

Volume 48 (Issue 2): 39–45 · 2 February 2026



Abstract: The study presents two noteworthy new records for Bulgaria, Gyalecta flotowii and Microcalicium disseminatum. Both species were found in the Parangalitsa Reserve, which is expected to be one of the hotspots for lichen biodiversity in the country but remains understudied. Gyalecta flotowii is a rare crustose lichen occurring on deciduous trees. Microcalicium disseminatum is a lichenicolous fungus that grows on calicioid lichens and represents the first record of this genus from Bulgaria. Both species are indicative of old-growth forests with a humid climate. The new records are presented with detailed taxonomic descriptions, illustrations and ecological notes based on the Bulgarian specimens.

Keywords: Bulgarian protected areas, lichenicolous fungi, lichens, old-growth forests

References [19]

Chytry M., Tivhy L., Hennekens S.M. et al. 2020 EUNIS habitat classification : Expert system, characteristic species combinations and distribution maps of European habitats. Applied Vegetation Science 23: 648–675. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12519
Georgiev Z. 1933 Parangalitsa. Lesovodska Missal 2: 16–32.
Holien H., Frisch A. 2022 Microcalicium loraasii, a new calicioid fungus from old-growth boreal forest in Norway. Graphis Scripta 34 (4): 42–50.
Körber G.W. 1855 Systema Lichenum Germaniae (I–XXXIV). Die Flechten Deutschlands mikroscopischgeprüft, kritisch gesichtet, charakteristisch beschrieben und systematisch geordnet. Trewendt and Granier, Breslau, 458 pp.
Malíček J., Palice Z., Bouda F., Knudsen K., Šoun J., Vondrák J., Novotný P. 2025 Atlas českých lišejníků. https://dalib.cz/.
Ministry of Environment and Water of the Republic of Bulgaria 2024 Administrative Act No. RD–2017/19.03.2024. Darzhaven vestnik 37: 112.
Motyka J., Zhelezova B. 1962 Monographische Untersuchung der Gattung Usnea in Bulgarien. Mitteilungen des Botanischen Instituts, Sofia 10: 67–120. (In Bulgarian)
Nascimbene J., Nimis P.L., Ravera S. 2013 Evaluating the conservation status of epiphytic lichens of Italy: A red list. Plant Biosystems 147 (4): 898–904. https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2012.748101
Panayotov M., Kulakowski D., Laranjeiro Dos Santos L., Bebi P. 2011 Wind disturbances shape old Norway spruce-dominated forest in Bulgaria. Forest Ecology and Management 262 (3): 470–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2011.04.013
Raev I. 1986 Water balance of high productive spruce ecosystems in the biosphere reservation “Parangalitsa”. Nauka za gorata 23 (3): 52–62.
Schneider C.A., Rasband W.S., Eliceiri K.W. 2012 NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nature Methods 9: 671–675.
Shivarov V.V., Denchev C.M., Denchev T.T. 2023 Red List of lichenized fungi in Bulgaria. Mycobiota 13: 1–30. https://doi.org/10.12664/mycobiota.2023.13.01
Smith C.W., Aptroot A., Coppins B.J., Fletcher A., Gilbert O.L., James P.W., Wolseley P.A. (eds) 2009 The lichens of Great Britain and Ireland. 2nd edn. The British Lichen Society, London, 1046 pp.
Spier L., van Dort K., Fritz Ö. 2008 A contribution to the lichen mycota of old beech forests in Bulgaria. Mycologia Balcanica 5: 141–146. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2548665
Stoykov D.Y. 2015 Lobaria pulmonaria (Ascomycota, Lobariaceae) in Bulgaria. Trakia Journal of Sciences 2: 109–114. https://doi.org/10.15547/tjs.2015.02.001
Tibell L. 1978 The genus Microcalicium. Botaniska Notiser 131: 229–246.
Tsvetanov N., Nikolova N., Panayotov M. 2011 Trees reaction after windthrow recorded in tree rings of pristine Picea abies forest “Parangalitsa”. In: Maaten-Theunissen M., Specker H., Gärtner H., Helle G., Heinrich I. (eds) TRACE – Tree Rings in Archaeology, Climatology and Ecology, Vol. 9. GFZ Potsdam, Scientific Technical Report STR 11/07, Potsdam, pp. 89–96.
Zhelezova B. 1960 Beitrag zur Flechtenflora Bulgariens. Mitteilungen des Botanischen Instituts, Sofia 7: 351–357. (In Bulgarian)
Zhelezova B. 1963 Materialien zur Flechtenflora Bulgariens. Mitteilungen des Botanischen Instituts, Sofia 12: 245–265. (In Bulgarian)

Additional information

Received: 13 June 2025 · Accepted: 5 January 2026

Editor: Nikolay Simov

Conflicts of interest:
No potential conflict of interest has been reported by the authors, reviewers, or subject editor.

— Views: 132 (updated daily)

Cite as

Popova S., Shivarov V. V. 2026 Revealing the lichenised and lichenicolous diversity of Parangalitsa Reserve, Bulgaria: first records of two noteworthy species for the country. Historia naturalis bulgarica 48: 39–45.

Export: BibTeX EndNote RefMan · JATS metadata

Open access
All journal content is available for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).