XVI International Botanical Congess

Lobaria pulmonaria is a threatened lichen in Switzerland and it has suffered a significant decline on the Central Plateau. These populations are restricted to a few trees and previous experiments revealed that under the present forest management the population size is limited by a low reproductive potential of the lichen. Nevertheless, a genetic inventory of the major lowland population showed that four out of six genotypes known in Switzerland are still present. However, without immediate conservation measures the population will suffer a significant loss in the genetic diversity because a major part of the phorophytes is senescent. The present concept for maintaining the genetic multiplicity of L. pulmonaria includes the augmentation of existing, and the establishment of new populations by transplanting doublets of thallus fragments of different genotypes.