Current Research in Environmental & Applied Mycology 5 (3): 180–195 (2015) ISSN 2229-222 www.creamjournal.org Article Copyright © 2015 CREAM Online Edition Doi 10.5943/cream/5/3/3 Review of lichens of the high level Ferricretes and Mesas of the North Western Ghats, India Pandit G Biodiversity & Palaeobiology Group, Agharkar Research Institute, G.G. Agarkar Road, Pune 411004, India. Pandit G 2015 – Review of lichens of the high level Ferricretes and Mesas of the North Western Ghats, India. Current Research in Environmental & Applied Mycology 5(3), 180–195, Doi 10.5943/ream/5/3/3 10.5943/cream/5/3/3 Abstract The paper includes 234 species in 61 genera belonging to 30 families reported from the high level Ferricretes and basalt mesas, of the North Western Ghats of Maharashtra. The average percentage of the lichen species in Maharashtra on high level Ferricretes is 22.91 % and on the basalt Mesas is 0.682 %. Of these 234 species, 50 species are new to science, reported from these plateau areas and 25 species have their type locality in and around the plateaus. Key words – basalt – laterite – lichenized fungi – rocky outcrops. Introduction The Western Ghats of India are one of the important biodiversity hot spots of the world and comprise many rocky plateaus. They are a highly specialized terrestrial island-like habitat, with a unique combination of microhabitats that support endemic biodiversity due to the geology, geomorphology, climate and edaphic conditions. The flora and fauna has diversified in to narrowniched endemics in this habitat. Cycling of nutrients and of water in this habitat is also different than any other habitats, such as forest or grasslands. Scientific recognition of this uniqueness has come only within the last decade (Watve 2013). They are categorized and treated as wastelands, as they remain dry and look barren for most part of the year. In the northern part of the Western Ghats and in the Konkan region of Maharashtra State, rocky plateaus are a very prominent part of the landscape. Ferricretes, often known as “tablelands” owing to the wide flat appearance and steep edges are common. There are a total of 67 plateau sites or rocky outcrops in the North Western Ghats and Konkan region of Maharashtra. These plateaus are of the following three types: High-level Ferricretes (HLF) occurs on high-level Laterites between 15–18º 20’N, extend inland to 74º E, and are located between 800 and 1400 m (Widdowson & Cox 1996) in the districts of Satara, Kolhapur, Sangli, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg, which include the crestline of the NW Ghats. Of these 26 plateaus are high level Ferricretes. The high level Ferricretes that are explored are Amba, Amboli, Kas, Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani and Panhala (Table 1, Fig. 1). Submitted 18 February 2015, Accepted 30 June 2015, Published online 31 July 2015 Corresponding Author: Gargee Pandit – e-mail – gargee.pandit@gmail.com, gargeepandit@aripune.org 180 Table 1 High level Ferricretes Plateaus Panhala Amboli Amba Kas Mahabaleshwar Panchgani Microlichen taxa 30 64 24 5 72 & Macrolichen taxa 33 24 6 14 57 Total number of lichen taxa 63 88 30 19 130 % in Maharashtra 21.87 30.55 10.41 6.59 45.13 % in India 2.73 3.82 1.30 0.82 5.64 Mahabaleshwar & Panchgani Kas Amboli Amba 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Panhala Total number of lichen species High level ferricretes Localities Fig. 1 – Graphical representation of high level Ferricretes Basalt Mesa (BM) outcrops are exposed on mesas between 18º 20’–21º N & 73º 35’–73º 50’E. These are areas where the upper layers of rocks have eroded to expose the underlying basalt flows, and hence can occur at any altitude depending upon the degree of weathering. The basalt mesas that are explored are Anjaneri, Matheran, Durgawadi and Malshej ghat. There are 10 basalt Mesas and the remaining three are between high level Ferricretes to low level Ferricretes (Table 2, Fig. 2). Table 2 Basalt Mesas Plateaus Anjaneri Durgawadi Malshej ghat Matheran Microlichen taxa Macrolichen taxa Total number of lichen taxa % in Maharashtra % in India 6 10 11 3 6 14 10 3 12 24 21 6 4.16 8.33 7.29 2.08 0.52 1.04 0.911 0.26 181 Total number of species Basalt Mesas 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Anjaneri Durgawadi Malshej ghat Matheran Localities Fig. 2 – Graphical representation of basalt Mesas Low-level Ferricretes (LLF) occur in the low-level laterites of Konkan plains between 50–200 m south of 18º 20’N in the Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, as well as all of Karnataka and the Kerala coast, extending from the sea coast to the foothills of the Western Ghats and 28 plateaus are low level Ferricretes in Maharashtra. Many of the hill forts of Maharashtra State have exposed hilltops of basalt (Watve 2013). Lichens are regarded as an example of controlled parasitism (where in a fungal partner, the mycobiont and one or more photosynthetic partners, the photobiont, are present to form a complex structure forming- “symbiont”. They play an important role in the mineral cycling patterns of their ecosystem. More than 2300 lichen species are presently known from India (Singh & Sinha 2010) and a total of 288 lichen species in 68 genera are known from the State of Maharashtra (Makhija et al. 2014). The plateaus have a unique lichen flora, and are also facing threats from tourism, mining, and grazing (Table 3). Many organizations and researchers working on these plateau sites are actively helping in conserve them. The Maharashtra forest department has also taken a leading role in the region by identifying rocky plateaus of special conservation significance and taking steps to include details of rocky plateaus in the regional working plans. Table 3 Details of Explored plateaus Regions Villages Nashik area Kas area Anjaneri Panchgani area Godawali / Panchgan i Kas (Site K) Local names Anjaneri District Land ownership Partly RF Threat Nashik Outcrop type BM Tourism Disturbanc e Low Apti papdi, dhang sada, thanoba sada Panchgani Tableland/ Asia plateau Satara HLF RF, private Flower tourism Moderate Satara HLF Mahabaleshwa r Panchgani ecosensitive zone Declared natural heritage, Conservation Commercial landscape tourism Very high 182 Regions Villages Local names District Outcrop type Threat Disturbanc e BM Land ownership zone Mostly private Malshej Ghat area Panhala Malshej Fort Malshej Ghat Fort Ahemdnaga r Kolhapur Tourism High HLF Reserve Forest Moderate Reserve Forest Pune Secondar y laterite BM Grazing by cattle/Township / ESZ1 Tourism Amba ghat area Amba - Kolhapur Durgawad i AmbeHatviji/ Junnar Killa /Fort Private and Cultivated for rice Grazing, Fires, Blasting for ponds Sindhudurg HLF Reserve Forest Grazing Local grazing, fires trampling by tourists, plant collection and proposed wind farms Low Amboli Amboli Raigad District Matheran Choukul sada, Hiranyakesh i sada, Khamtyahca sada Matheran Raigad Between HLF and LLF Matheran Eco Sensitive Zone Tourism High Moderate Review of Literature The Maharashtra State was investigated for lichens during 2001-2008, and published as “Lichens of Maharashtra” (Makhija et al. 2014). Few plateaus were also explored but were of a floristic nature and plateaus or rocky outcrops were not taken into account as specialized habitats. Hence, lichen data was not exclusively available for the plateaus. Recently a list on lichens of the Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani Ecosensitive zone was published (Pandit 2014b), also two new generic records have been reported for the two high level Ferricretes (Pandit 2014a). However, the low level Ferricretes have not been surveyed in the concept of specialized habitats and collections have been made in and around the plateau and not on the actual plateau. Explorations of the rocky plateaus have so far concentrated on angiosperms, amphibians and reptiles (Bhattaria et al. 2012, Giri et al. 2004, 2008, Gower et al. 2007, Lekhak & Yadav 2012, Yadav & Sardesai 2002). New species of vertebrates, invertebrates, angiosperms and pteridophytes have been reported from rocky plateaus in the study area, indicating their biodiversity richness. However, the cryptogamic vegetation not been studied in detail. A cryptogamic crust covers a large portion of rocky plateaus and it is considered as one of the major communities on rock outcrops world over (Porembski et al. 2000). Büdel has remarked on the surprisingly high variety of cyanobacteria and cyano- bacterial lichens on outcrops across the tropical regions. The lichen diversity of rock outcrops has never specifically been reviewed. In view of this, the paper presents a review of lichens reported on rocky plateau sites. It will serve as a baseline for future studies on this subject. By using the outcrop data of Watve (2013) as the baseline data, this review produces a list of lichens from these poorly investigated plateaus. Materials & Methods For the preparation of this review paper, primary, as well as secondary data has been used. During the surveys conducted for the compilation of book “Lichens of Maharashtra” vouchers 183 Table 4 List of lichens occurring on various substrates Taxa Aspicilia calcarea Caloplaca abuensis Caloplaca amarkantaka Caloplaca cupulifera Cladonia sp. Cladonia scabriuscula Collema furfureolum Collema polycarpon Collema tenax var. tenax Collema texanum var. texanum Diploschistes rampodensis Diploschistes cf. rampodensis Immersaria cf olivacea Koerberiella wimmeriana Lepraria lobificans Leptogium burnetiae var. hirsutum Leptogium chloromelum Leptogium cyanescens Leptogium denticulatum Leptogium patwardhanii Leptogium ulvaceum Leptogium verrucosum Parmotrema tinctorum Pertusaria corallina Porina sp. Ramalina sp. Staurothele clopima Staurothele fissa Thelenella sp. Trapelia placodioides Verrucaria acrotella Saxicolous + + + + Corticolous Terricolous Muscicolous + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + specimens were collected and deposited at Ajrekar Mycological herbarium (AMH) lodged at ARI. These primary occurrence records together with field ecological data on lichen habitats, collected during various survey tours from 2001 to 2014 has been analyzed here. Currently work is going on as part of the funded project from the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, project on the two outcrops of Kas and Panchgani, where lichen explorations and ecological data collections were made. In addition to this, regional research on lichens since 2000-2008 has been reviewed for this compilation. Results and Discussion The secondary data sources on lichens are voluminous. However, they deal mainly with taxonomy and nomenclature issues. There is a dearth of ecological information beyond lichens forms and substrates. Only 9-10 rocky plateaus have been repeatedly surveyed by lichenologists. Still a very large number of 234 species in 61 genera belonging to 30 families are reported from the nine plateau regions of NW Ghats of Maharashtra. This clearly indicates the importance of this habitat for lichen biodiversity and need for further detailed studies systematically from this habitat. The dominant families for the few studied plateau regions are Graphidaceae with highest species number of 47 species, followed by Physciaeae- 31 species, Collemataceae with 23 species, Lecanoraceae 18 species, Parmeliaceae with 15 species, Thelotremoid-Graphidaceae with 14 species and Ramalinaceae with 13 species. The average percentage of species on high level Ferricretes is 22.91 % and on the basalt Mesas is 0.68 %, whereas the low level Ferricretes plateaus in Maharashtra mentioned by Watve (2013) have not been well-studied, but their surroundings are explored for lichens so we do not have lichen reports from specific plateaus as such. 184 Table 5 Comparative lichen data of the high level Ferricretes and basalt Mesas [1 Amba, 2 Amboli, 3 Kas, 4 Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani, 5 Panhala, 6 Anjaneri, 7 Matheran, 8 Durgawadi, 9 Malshej ghat] Families Arthoniaceae Arthopyreniaceae Genera 2 1 Species 7 3 Brigantiaceae 1 1 Caliciaceae 1 3 Cladoniaceae 1 2 Coccocarpiaceae 1 2 Collemataceae 2 25 Names of Taxon Growth forms Arthothelium albescens Patw. & Makhija Crustose Arthothelium awasthii Patw. & Makhija Crustose Arthothelium deplanatum (Müll. Arg.) Crustose Makhija & Patw. Arthothelium nigrodiscum Patw. & Crustose Makhija Arthothelium saxicola Makhija & Patw. Crustose Arthothelium subruanum Makhija & Crustose Patw. Cryptothecia lunulata (Zahlbr.) Makhija Crustose & Patw. Mycomicrothelia exigua (Müll. Arg.) D. Crustose Hawksw. Mycomicrothelia hemispherica (Mull. Crustose Arg.) D. Hawksw. Mycomicrothelia obovata (Stirt.) D. Crustose Hawksw. Brigantiaea patwardhanii Chitale & Crustose Makhija Buellia panchganiensis Makhija & Dube Crustose Buellia sp. B Crustose Buellia tabularis Makhija & Dube Crustose Cladonia scabriuscula (Delise) Nyl. Fruticose Cladonia sp. Fruticose Coccocarpia erythroxyli (Spreng.) Foliose Swinscow & Krog Coccocarpia palmicola (Spreng.) Arv. & Foliose D. J. Gall. Collema conglomeratum Hoffm. var. Foliose crassiusculum (Malme) Degel. Collema furfureolum Mull. Arg. Foliose Collema leptaleum Tuck. var. biliosum Foliose (Mont.) Degel. Collema polycarpon Hoffm. var. Foliose polycarpon HLF 1 2 3 4 + 5 Status 8 + + + + + + + 9 Restricted + + BM 6 7 + + Restricted Restricted + Restricted + Restricted + + Restricted + Restricted + + + + + + + + Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + Restricted + + Restricted Restricted Restricted 185 Families Genera Species Names of Taxon Collema pulcellum Ach. var. subnigrescens (Mull. Arg.) Degel. Collema tenax var. tenax (Sw.) Ach. Collema texanum var. texanum Tuck. Leptogium austroamericanum (Malme) Dodge Leptogium azureum (Sw.) Mont. Leptogium burnetiae var. hirsutum (Sierk) P.M. Jørg. Leptogium chloromelum (Sw.) Nyl. Leptogium cochleatum (Dicks.) P.M. Jorg. & P. James Leptogium cyanescens (Ach.) Korb. Leptogium denticulatum Nyl. Leptogium gelatinosum (With.) J.R. Laudon Leptogium indicum Awasthi & Akthar Leptogium javanicum Mont Leptogium patwardhanii A. Dube & Makhija Leptogium phyllocarpum (Pers.) Mont. Leptogium propaguliferum Vain. Leptogium subazureum A. Dube & Makhija Leptogium ulvaceum (Pers.) Vain. Leptogium verrucosum A. Dube & Makhija Graphidaceae 8 47 Carbacanthographis awasthii (Patw. & Nagarkar) Chitale & Makhija Diorygma “microsporum” ad int. Diorygma “patwardhanii” ad int Diorygma albocinerascens Makhija, Chitale & B.O. Sharma Diorygma albovirescens Makhija, Chitale & B.O. Sharma Diorygma excipuloconvergentum Makhija, Chitale & B.O. Sharma Diorygma junghuhnii (Mont. & Bosch) Kalb. in Kalb Growth forms HLF 1 2 3 Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose + Foliose Foliose + + BM 6 7 Status 8 9 Restricted + + Restricted Restricted Restricted + + + + Foliose Foliose Foliose + Foliose Foliose Foliose + Foliose Foliose Foliose + + + + + + + + Foliose Foliose Crustose + + Restricted + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Crustose + + + + + + + + Common Restricted Restricted Common Common Restricted Restricted Restricted + + + + Common Restricted Restricted + Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose 5 + + Foliose Foliose Crustose 4 + Restricted Restricted Common Restricted + + + Common Restricted 186 Families Genera Species Names of Taxon Diorygma megaspermum Makhija, Chitale & B.O. Sharma Diorygma megasporum Kalb, Staiger & Elix Diorygma megistosporum Makhija, Chitale & B.O. Sharma Diorygma panchganiense Makhija, Chitale & B.O. Sharma Diorygma rufosporum (Patw. & C.R. Kulk.) B.O. Sharma & Makhija Fissurina cingalina (Nyl.) Staiger Glyphis cicatricosa Ach. Graphis ajarekarii Patw. & C.R. Kulk. Graphis aurita Eschw. in Martius Graphis duplicata Ach. Graphis elevativerrucosa Chitale & al Graphis galactoderma (Zahlbr.) Lucking Graphis lineola Ach. Graphis maharashtrana Chitale & al. Graphis nigroglauca Leight. Graphis panhalensis (Patw. & C.R. Kulk.) Chitale & al. Graphis parilis Kremph. Graphis platycarpa Eschw. Graphis polystriata Makhija, A. Dube, Adaw. & Chitale Graphis proserpens Vain. Graphis sp. 1 Graphis subducta Vain. Graphis subserpentina (Nyl.) Mull Arg. Graphis treblocarpa (Bel.) Nyl. Graphis tsunodae Zahlbr. Graphis vittata Vain. Hemithecium amboliense Makhija & A. Dube Hemithecium aphanes (Mont. et Bosch) M. Nakan. & Kashiw. Hemithecium epixanthum (Mont. & Bosch) Chitale & Makhija Growth forms Crustose HLF 1 2 + Crustose + 4 + 5 + + Crustose + + Crustose + + Crustose + Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose + + + + Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose BM 6 7 Status 8 9 Common Restricted Restricted + Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + + + + + + + + + Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose 3 + + + + + + Restricted Restricted + Restricted Restricted Common + + + + Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + + + + + + + + + + + 187 Families Lecanoraceae Genera 1 Species 18 Names of Taxon Growth forms Hemithecium microspermum Chitale, Makhija & B.O. Sharma Hemithecium multistriatum (Müll. Arg.) Chitale & Makhija Hemithecium nakanishianum (Patw. & C.R. Kulk.) Makhija & A. Dube Hemithecium norsticticum Makhija & A. Dube Hemithecium pyrrhochroa (Mont. & Bosch.) V. Tewari & Upreti Hemithecium salacinilabiatum (Patw. & C.R. Kulk.) Chitale & Makhija Hemithecium stictilabiatum (Patw. & C.R. Kulk.) Chitale & Makhija Pallidogramme commutabilis (Kremp.) Chitale & Makhija Pallidogramme indica A. Dube & Makhija Pallidogramme undulatolirellatum A. Dube & Makhija Platygramme halei (Patw. & C.R. Kulk.) Makhija & Chitale Lecanora alba Lumbsch Lecanora allophana (Ach.) Röhl. Lecanora andina Rasanen Lecanora austrointumescens Lumbsch & Elix Lecanora cenisia Ach. Lecanora cf. chlarotera Nyl. Lecanora cf. fimbriatula Stirt. Lecanora cf. imshaugii Brodo Lecanora cf. perplexa Brodo Lecanora cf. xylophila Hue Lecanora chlarotera Nyl. Lecanora expallens Ach. Crustose HLF 1 2 + Crustose + Lecanora interjecta Mull. Arg. Lecanora lavidofusca Mull. Arg. Lecanora sp. 1 (Table Land) Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose + Crustose + 3 BM 6 7 Status 8 9 Restricted + + + + Common + + + Crustose Restricted + + Restricted + Crustose + Crustose + + Crustose + + Crustose Restricted + Restricted Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose 5 Restricted Crustose Crustose 4 + + + + + + + + + Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Restricted Common Common Restricted Restricted + Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted 188 Families Genera Species Megasporaceae Monoblastiaceae 1 1 1 1 Pannariaceae 1 3 Parmeliaceae Pertusariaceae 7 1 15 8 Names of Taxon Lecanora sp. A Lecanora sp. B Lecanora xylophila Hue Aspicilia calcarea (L.) Sommerf. Anisomeridium albisedum (Nyl.) R. C. Harris Parmeliella brisbanensis (Knight.) P.M. Jorg. & D.J. Galloway Parmeliella fuscata P. M. Jørg. Parmeliella subfuscata A. Dube & Makhija Bulbothrix isidiza (Nyl.) Hale Bulbothrix meizospora (Nyl.) Hale Bulbothrix tabacina (Mont. & Bosch) Hale Myelochroa aurulenta (Tuck.) Elix & Hale Parmelinella simplicior (Hale) Elix & Hale Parmelinella wallichiana (Tayl.) Elix & Hale Parmotrema kamatii Patw. & A. V. Prabhu Parmotrema praesorediosum (Nyl.) Hale Parmotrema reticulatum (Taylor) Choisy Parmotrema sancti-angelii (Lynge) Hale Parmotrema tinctorum (Nyl.) Hale Remototrachyna awasthi (Hale & Patw.) Divakar & Crespo Rimelia reticulata (Taylor) Hale & A. Fletcher Usnea complanata (Mull. Arg.) Motyka Usnea ghattensis G. Awasthi Pertusaria alutacea (Kremph.) Zahlbr. Pertusaria cf. depressa (Fee) Mont. et Bosch Pertusaria cf. quassiae (Fée) Nyl. Pertusaria cinchonae Müll. Arg. Pertusaria corallina (L.) Arnold Growth forms Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose HLF 1 2 + + + Crustosesquamulose-foliose Squamulose Squamulose 3 Status + + + 9 + + + Restricted + + + Restricted Restricted + + + + + Foliose Restricted + + + + + + + Restricted Restricted + + + + + + + + + + Common Common + + + + Common + + Foliose Crustose Crustose Crustose 8 Restricted Common Restricted Restricted Restricted + Foliose Foliose Foliose Crustose Crustose BM 6 7 Restricted Restricted Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose 5 + + Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose 4 Restricted + + + + + + Restricted Restricted + + + + Restricted Restricted 189 Families Phlyctidaceae Physciaceae Genera 1 7 Species 2 32 Names of Taxon Pertusaria pertusa (L.) Tuck. Pertusaria quassiae (Fée) Nyl. Pertusaria sp. C Phlyctis communis Chitale & Makhija Phlyctis karnatakana S. Joshi & Upreti Dirinaria applanata (Fée) D. D. Awasthi Heterodermia incana (Stirt.) D. D. Awasthi Heterodermia albicans (Pers.) Swinscow & Krog L. Heterodermia angustiloba (Miill. Arg.) Awasthi Heterodermia antillarum (Vain.) Swinscow & Krog Heterodermia boryi (Fée) Kr. P. Singh & S. Singh Heterodermia cf. japonica (M. Satô) Swinscow & Krog Heterodermia diademata (Taylor) Awasthi Heterodermia flabellata (Fée) D. D. Awasthi Heterodermia hypocaesia (Yesuda) D.D. Awasthi Heterodermia hypoleuca (Ach.) Trevis. Heterodermia japonica (Sato) Swinscow & Krog Heterodermia leucomelos (L.) Poelt Heterodermia obscurata (Nyl.) Trevis. Heterodermia podocarpa (Bel.) Awasthi Heterodermia pseudospeciosa (Kurok.) W. Culb. Heterodermia sp. Heterodermia speciosa (Wulfen) Trevis. Phaeophyscia endococcina var. endococcinodes (Poelt) Moberg Phaeophyscia hispidula (Ach.) Moberg Phaeophyscia hispidula var. exornatula (Zahlbr.) Moberg Growth forms Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Foliose Foliose HLF 1 2 3 + + + + 4 + + + + + 9 Restricted Common Restricted Common Restricted + + + + Foliose + Foliose + Common Restricted + + + Foliose + Foliose Restricted + + Foliose + Foliose + + + Restricted + + + + + Foliose Foliose Common + Foliose Foliose Foliose + Status 8 + + Foliose Foliose Foliose BM 6 7 + Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose 5 Restricted + Restricted Restricted + + + Restricted + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Common Common Restricted Common + Common Restricted 190 Families Pilocarpaceae Porianaceae Porpidiaceae Pyrenulaceae Ramalinaceae Genera 1 1 2 2 4 Species 1 9 2 7 14 Names of Taxon Phaeophyscia orbicularis (Neck.) Moberg Phaeophyscia pyrrhophora (Poelt) D.D. Awasthi & M. Joshi Physcia abuensis D.D. Awasthi & Singh Physcia integrata Nyl. Physcia tribacoides Nyl. Physcia undulata Moberg Physconia enteroxantha (Nyl.) Poelt Pyxine cocoes var. cocoes (Swartz) Nyl. Pyxine cocoes var. prominula (Stirt.) D. D. Awasthi Pyxine petricola var. petricola Nyl. Micarea sp. Porina africana Müll. Arg. Porina angusta Makhija & al. Porina atroperiostiola Makhija & al. Porina cf. subpungens Malme Porina karnatakensis Makhija & al. Porina lucida R. Sant. Porina masonhalei Makhija & Chitale Porina sp. Porina sp. A Immersaria cf. olivacea Calatayud & Rambold Koerberiella wimmeriana (Körber) B. Stein Lithothelium obtectum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot Pyrenula cf. mastophoriza (Nyl.) Zahlbr. Pyrenula depressa (Müll. Arg.) Makhija & Chitale Pyrenula glabrescens Vain. Pyrenula sp. B Pyrenula sp. C Pyrenula sp. D Bacidia albicerata (Kremp.) Zahlbr. Bacidia alutacea (Kremp.) Zahlbr. Growth forms HLF 1 2 3 4 5 BM 6 7 Status 8 Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Foliose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose + 9 + Restricted + + + Common Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + + Restricted + Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Crustose + Restricted + Restricted Crustose + Restricted Crustose Crustose + + Restricted Restricted Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose + + + + + Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + + 191 Families Genera Species Rocellaceae 1 1 Stereocaulaceae 1 3 Teloschistaceae 1 8 ThelotremoidGraphidaceae 5 14 Names of Taxon Bacidia fusconigrescens (Kremp.) Zahlbr. Bacidia incongruens (Stirt.) Zahlbr. Bacidia personata Malme Bacidia rubella (Hoffm.) A. Massal. Bacidia sp. A Bacidia subacerina Nyl. ex Vain. Bacidia submedialis (Nyl.) Zahlbr. Lopezaria isidiza (Makhija & Nagarkar) Aptroot & Sipman Phyllopsora breviuscula (Nyl.) Müll. Arg. Phyllopsora corallina (Eschw.) Mull. Arg. Phyllopsora foliata (Stirt.) Zahlbr Enterographa micrographa (Nyl.) Redinger Lepraria coriensis (Hue) Sipman Lepraria lobificans Nyl. Lepraria sp. Caloplaca abuensis Joshi & Upreti Caloplaca amarkantakana Joshi & Upreti Caloplaca cupulifera (Vain.) Zahlbr. Caloplaca flavorubescens (Huds.) J.R. Laundon Caloplaca herbidella (Nyl. ex Hue) H. Magn. Caloplaca inconspecta Arup Caloplaca pollinii (A. Massal.) Jatta Caloplaca sp. A Chapsa laceratula (Müll. Arg.) Rivas Plata & Lücking Chapsa leprocarpa (Nyl.) A. Frisch Chapsa sp. A Chapsa sp. B Diploschistes rampoddensis (Nyl.) Zahlbr. Diploschistes cf. rampoddensis (Nyl.) Zahlbr. Diploschistes sp. A Growth forms Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Squamulose HLF 1 2 + + Status 8 Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + Restricted + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + + + + + Restricted Restricted + + 9 Restricted Restricted + + + Restricted + + + Restricted + Crustose Crustose BM 6 7 + Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose 5 + Leprose Leprose Leprose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose 4 + + + + + Squamulose Squamulose Crustose 3 + + + Restricted Restricted 192 Families Genera 1 2 1 2 in 1 1 in 1 1 3 4 Trapelariaceae Trypetheliaceae Uncertain position Caliciales Uncertain position Pyrenulaceae Verrucariaceae Species Names of Taxon Myriotrema clandestinum (Fée) Hale Myriotrema masonhalei (Patw. & C.R. Kulk.) Hale Myriotrema sp. B Ocellularia allosporoides (Nyl.) Patw. & C.R. Kulk. Ocellularia terebrata (Ach.) Müll. Arg. Thelotrema monosporum Nyl. Thelotrema subtile Tuck. Trapelia placiodiodes Coppins & James Trypethelium plicatorimosum Makhija & Patw. Laurera vezdae Makhija & Patw. Heterocyphelium leucampyx (Tuck.) Vain. Trichotrema filisporum (Patw. & al.) Makhija & Patw. Endocarpon subrosettum A. Singh & Upreti Staurothele clopima (Wahlenb.) Th. Fr. Staurothele fissa (Taylor) Zack. Verrucaria acrotella Ach. Growth forms Crustose Crustose HLF 1 2 + + Crustose Crustose + + Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose Crustose + Crustose Crustose + Crustose 3 4 BM 6 7 Status 8 9 Restricted Restricted Restricted Restricted + + 5 Restricted Restricted + + + Restricted Restricted + Restricted Restricted + Restricted Squamulose + Restricted Crustose Crustose Crustose + + + Restricted Restricted Restricted 193 The total number of crustose forms is 151 spp, foliose 69 spp, fruticose six species, leprose three species squamulose six species and crustose-squamulose-foliose one species. Lichens were seen to utilize diverse substrates on the plateaus, such as rock, bark, soil and also sometimes mosses, 23 species are exclusively saxicolous (on rocks and boulders) which is 9.82 % of the total plateau lichens, three species are seen share both bark and rock surfaces, 203 species are exclusively corticolous (on bark) which is 86.75 %, four species exclusively terricolous (on soil), three species exclusively muscicolous (on moss) and two species are seen share both the barks and moss. (TABLE 4) and the remaining species are all corticolous as per the list (TABLE 5). The majority of the species ca. 158 species are restricted to one plateau, whereas 24 species are common to more than four plateaus, while the remaining have an apparently rare status. Though these areas appear barren and rocky the barren part covers 9.82 % of lichen cover of the total plateau area. Further systematic studies might give a better idea regarding regional distribution of species. However, it is clear that speciation on these terrestrial island habitat continues even now. Similarly various inselbergs, duricrust, limestone, and quartzite rich, granite outcrops have been explored for their lichen studies worldwide and there is a mention that “Every single rock outcrop and quary supported at least one red-listed cryptogam species and among lichens the central European endemic Endocarpon latzelianum was found new to Germany” (Thiel & Spribille 2007). Thus detailed studies will enhance knowledge of lichen diversity on these poorly explored plateaus. The isolation or fragmentation of ecological habitats can have significant impact on biodiversity. Fragmentation may disrupt ecological processes critical to the maintenance of biodiversity, especially if over long periods. Hence rehabilitation of areas within short periods and maintaining ecological corridors become necessary mitigation measures. Introduction of burning as weed control can disrupt natural ecosystems. The recovery of lichens is very slow. This list will be helpful at the national and regional levels to protect and raise government and public interest to help identify lichens to the specific national conservation action programs. Nevertheless, a number of lichens occurring on the basaltic rock at great heights, have never been studied due to difficulties in collection. Such studies will certainly result in many new and interesting lichens. Acknowledgements The author is grateful to the Department of Science and Technology-SERB, SB/FT/LS187/2012 New Delhi for the financial support; the Director, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, for the laboratory facilities, I also thank the authorities of Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board and also the Forest Department for their permission in the surveys. Thanks are also due to Dr. Aparna Watve for reviewing the manuscript, also many thanks to Subhash Gaikwad & Bharati Sharma for their technical assistance, timely help and suggestions. 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