Molecular systematics, taxonomy, and museomics of tropical Ramalinaceae

This thesis focuses on the molecular systematics of the lichen family Ramalinaceae and is based on both freshly collected and archived specimens. Tropical members of the family remain particularly understudied, including the large genus Phyllopsora. The taxonomy of the family is revised using DNA sequence phylogenetics, and the evolution of morphological characters is traced throughout the family (Paper I). The genus Phyllopsora splits into segregates and the core-group is investigated in detail to test species boundaries (Paper II). Eight species of Phyllopsora are described as new (Papers II–III) and a regional treatment of the genus in Asia is provided (Paper III). Moreover, three new species are described in the tropical genus Krogia (Paper IV). As DNA sequencing is desirable but difficult for specimens collected >20 yrs ago, Paper V presents a methodological study, in which we obtain sequence data from lichens collected ≤155 yrs ago. The results in this thesis indicate that 1) traditional taxonomy may be greatly improved by including DNA sequence data, 2) archived specimens are a valuable source for biosystematics research, and 3) DNA from type material is feasible to include