Terricolous lichens in the glacier forefield of the Pasterze (Eastern Alps, Carinthia, Austria)

The investigation of lichens on soil, plant debris and terricolous mosses in the glacier forefield of the Pasterze yielded 35 lichen species. Placidiopsis oreades Breuss (Verrucariales) is new to Austria. Three sampling sites were established at increasing distance from the glacier, in order to compare species diversity, abundance and composition within the forefield and with four other glacier forefields of the Eastern Alps. We would like to thank the administration of the National Park Hohe Tauern Carinthia and the Amt der Kärntner Landesregierung (Abteilung 8) for supporting our request for a scientific collecting permit, the Bezirkshauptmannschaft Spittal an der Drau (Bereich 10) for making out the permit, Peter KOSNIK for the TLC, Othmar BREUSS for the confirmation of Placidiopsis oreades, and Christian SCHEUER as well as Herwig TEPPNER for critically reading the manuscript and general remarks. Financial support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF project P25078-B16) and the University of Graz is gratefully acknowledged.