Completion of the Greater Sonoran Desert Lichen Flora Project

地衣是一种鲜为人知的共生生物，在世界各地的树皮、岩石和土壤上都有。 在北极以外，没有全面的身份证。 目前的调查涉及来自15个国家的70多名科学家之间为期10年的合作，为墨西哥西北部和美国西南部开发一个现代识别簿，该地区占地60万平方英里，被指定为大索诺兰沙漠地区。 邻近的山脉和沙漠也包括在该地区。 虽然涉及十多次大型科学考察的收集阶段现已结束，但标本分析仍在进行中。 目前的资金将使最后分析和适当分类的发展能够进入身份识别簿的第二卷和最后一卷（第一卷基本完成）。 此外，目前的资金将允许开发一个基于该地区近2000个物种的互联网识别系统。最后产品将包括两本书，涵盖2000个物种，包括物种描述、分布图、物种识别检索表和广泛的介绍。 另一个版本将在互联网上提供。 该处理将几乎50%的地衣物种从北美已知，因此将有意义超越直接的地理区域覆盖。 众所周知，地衣对空气污染很敏感，是许多生态系统的重要组成部分，因此预计研究结果将引起土地管理人员、空气污染专家、科学家和关心自然生态系统的公共利益团体的极大兴趣。

Lichens are poorly known symbiotic organisms that occur world-wide on bark, rocks and soil. Outside of the Arctic there are no comprehensive identification books available. The current investigation involves a 10-year collaboration among over 70 scientists from 15 countries to develop a modern identification book for northwestern Mexico and southwestern USA, a region covering 600,000 square miles and designated the greater Sonoran Desert region. Adjacent mountains as well as the desert are included in the region. Although the collecting phase involving over a dozen major scientific expeditions is now concluded, analysis of specimens is still on-going. Current funding will allow final analyses and development of appropriate classifications to go into the second and final volume of the identification book (the first one is essentially complete). In addition, current funding will allow development of an internet identification system based on the almost 2000 species recognized from the region. The final product will include two books covering the 2000 species and include species descriptions, distribution maps, keys for identification of the species and an extensive introduction. An alternative version will be available over the internet. The treatment will almost 50% of the lichen species known from North America and as a consequence will have significance beyond the immediate geographic region covered. Because lichens are well known to be sensitive to air pollution and are important components of many ecosystems, it is anticipated that the results will be of considerable interest to land managers, air pollution specialists, scientists and public interest groups concerned with natural ecosystems.