Primary Investigation of Lichenized Fungi in and around High-altitude Sacred Wetland Hemkund in Western Himalaya

Abstract

The present study deciphers the lichen diversity in and around the high-altitude sacred wetland
Hemkund in Uttarakhand. The study revealed an occurrence of 90 species of lichens belonging
to 45 genera and 18 families. Among the different lichen families of the Hemkund region,
Parmeliaceae with 18 species belonging to 13 genera is the dominant, followed by Cladoniaceae
with 17 species belonging to 3 genera and Peltigeraceae with 15 species belonging to 4 genera.
Among the different growth forms of lichens; foliose comprises the highest number of 49
species, followed by 16 dimorphic lichens taxa. The area exhibits maximum number of rock
and soil inhabiting lichens with 39 and 19 spp. Thus, this study reveals the lichens richness in
the region providing new insights that can be used as a cumulative indicator of environmental
quality, conservation measures and future bio-monitoring studies.