Checklist of the lichens of the Cabañeros National Park and the surrounding territory

The dataset contains 602 species (4606 records) collected/observed during several field studies carried out since the year 2001. A total of 120 localities were sampled, covering a wide range of substrates, altitudes, orientations, land uses and different types of Mediterranean forests and shrublands. We have identified 303 epiphytic species (Arbutus unedo, Cistus ladanifer, Fraxinus angustifolia, Juniperus oxycedrus, Quercus ilex, Q. faginea, Q. pyrenaica, Q. suber, ...), 102 terricolous species (forest slopes and bare soils) and 324 saxicolous species (quartzites, slates, granites, and limestone rocks). Only 4% of the species grew on three types of substrates (rock-soil-bark), 12% of the species grew on two types of substrates (soil-bark or soil-rock), while the rest of the species were substrate specific. This high diversity (more than a fifth of the total lichen species of the Iberian Peninsula) is linked to an enormous variety of substrates and environmental conditions, further favored by the presence of several unmanaged and well-preserved forests. Areas with higher lichen diversity were: Chorro Valley, Boquerón del Estena and the surrounding territory, and Gargantilla land. The checklist is annotated with information on the species, province, municipality, locality, geographic position, altitude, habitat, collector name, date, and associated reference. When the same geographical information of a specific specimen is referenced in several scientific papers (e.g., taxonomic, floristic, phylogenetic, ecology papers), we have chosen to add just one reference (generally the oldest).