Data from: Ecophysiology and phylogeny of new terricolous and epiphytic chlorolichens in a fog oasis of the Atacama Desert

The Atacama Desert is one of the driest and probably oldest deserts on
Earth where only a few extremophile organisms are able to survive. This
study investigated two terricolous and two epiphytic lichens from the fog
oasis “Las Lomitas” within the National Park Pan de Azúcar which
represents a refugium for a few vascular desert plants and many lichens
that can thrive on fog and dew alone. Ecophysiological measurements and
climate records were combined with molecular data of the mycobiont, their
green algal photobionts and lichenicolous fungi to gain information about
the ecology of lichens within the fog oasis. Phylogenetic and
morphological investigations led to the identification and description of
the two new lichen species Ramalina reichenbergeri and Acarospora conafii
as well as the lichenicolous fungi that accompanied them and revealed the
trebouxioid character of all lichen photobionts. Their photosynthetic
response during natural scenarios such as reactivation by high air
humidity and in situ fog events were compared to elucidate the activation
strategies of this lichen community. Epiphytic lichens showed
photosynthetic activity that was rapidly induced by fog and additionally
during high air humidity whereas terricolous lichens were only activated
by fog.