This website is dedicated to and disseminates the results of a multidirectional research project investigating lichens and lichenicolous fungi of Bolivia. The project is financed by the National Centre for Research and Development within the LIDER programme. Its main aim is to develop knowledge on the biodiversity of South America, to investigate the species diversity of lichens in Bolivia and to promote further research in the region.

Bolivia is one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity worldwide. It covers an area of over 1 million km², extends over regions of significant physiographic differentiation and offers a wide range of ecosystems. Despite Bolivia’s interesting location in the tropical zone and the biological uniqueness of its plant life, lichens of Bolivia remain almost completely unexplored. Only 150 species were known from the country in 1998. Some further 1400 species were recorded and described in the following years. The world diversity of tropical lichens is estimated at 13000 species, with as many as 7000 species thought to occur in the neotropics. If these estimates are correct, the biota of lichens and lichenicolous fungi in Bolivia should consist of 4000 lichenized and 800 lichenicolous species.

 The project is the first study of this scale to investigate the lichen biota of Bolivia and hopes to expand knowledge on lichens and lichen-related fungi in South America. It will include examinations of the systematics, phylogeny and secondary metabolite composition in selected, poorly examined groups of taxa. Studies will also contribute to the recognition of the role of lichens in individual ecosystem types, their habitat preferences and geographical distribution. Research into lichens, highly sensitive to environmental changes, will lead to improvements in the protection of natural biodiversity in Bolivia. The project will aid and support actions aimed at preserving natural ecological processes in a biolo-gically unique area of great natural value.