Lichens are a conspicuous part of biodiversity in boreal regions. The Falkland Islands are no exception and lichens are noticed by almost all visitors to this archipelago. Over 400 species have been recorded but this information is scattered in scientific papers. This flora contains both widespread species as well as some endemics and species with a (sub)antarctic or southern temperate distribution.
The field guide describes and illustrates 94 species which include most of the abundant or conspicuous macrolichens, some of which are locally rare, and a few conspicuous crustose lichens (mainly Pertusaria species). Future visitors may now be able to record rarities without the necessity for collecting specimens, especially when populations are small.
The book starts with a well-illustrated introduction to lichen morphology and an overview of lichen habitats on the Falkland Islands. There are four identification keys: to brown fruticose lichens, yellow fruticose lichens, Lobariaceae (treating 15 species, 8 of which are treated in full in the book) and Pertusaria. One of the intentions of this publication is to raise local awareness of the lichen flora. Terminology is kept to a minimum with no author names given. Unfortunately, there are no references which would have been useful for further reading. A map giving altitudes, vegetation types and some geographical names would have been welcome. Here or elsewhere in the book, it could have been pointed out that these islands are also known as Las Malvinas.
The species treated are usually illustrated with two magnificent colour photographs; the whole lichen and a detail. This includes many interesting species (e.g. the enigmatic Bartletiella fragilis) for which these are the first published illustrations. A short description is given with field characters, and occasionally spot chemical reactions together with the distribution and habitat of each lichen species. In many instances there is a note about similar species on the island. It would have been useful to give an indication of the worldwide distribution of these lichens.For instance, both Alectoria sarmentosa and Bartletiella fragilis are equally noted as “rare”, which is doubtlessly true on the Falkland Islands, but the first is a widespread alpine-arctic species in both hemispheres, while the latter is additionally only known from New Zealand and is so poorly known and rarely collected that it has not yet been assigned to a family.
The print quality is very good but the lay-out is less than desirable as pages are not equally filled with text and pictures and in some instances the header (giving the species name) becomes the footer of the previous page.
This book is indispensible for every field botanist visiting the Falkland Islands and for every lichenologist with an interest in (sub)antarctic lichens. Others may like to obtain it just for the beautiful photographs which includes a number of rare species. It is available from Falklands Conservation, which is based in Great Britain; check the website (see above; incorrect in the book). I for one will definitely use it when identifying subantarctic and southern temperate lichens.
