Pozoruhodná lokalita lišejníků na železniční trati u Střezimíře ve středních Čechách

Lichens in railway cuttings have rarely been studied in detail, yet these habitats may host pioneer species of conservation concern. An abandoned railway corridor near Střezimíř (Central Bohemia), disused since 2022 and currently threatened by planned infill, was surveyed. During a half-day field survey conducted in August 2024, 49 lichen species were documented, including nine taxa listed in the Red List of the Czech Republic. The most remarkable record is Stereocaulon tomentosum, previously considered nationally extinct. Other noteworthy finds include Caeruleum heppii, Cladonia conista, C. peziziformis, Lempholemma chalazanum, Scytinium tenuissimum, Stereocaulon dactylophyllum, and Vezdaea leprosa. Particularly diverse assemblages were found on soil crusts of the railway ballast, while saxicolous lichens were found to colonise gravel and paragneiss rocks of the cutting. Iron-enriched rocks supported specialists such as Lecanora epanora and Myriospora tangerina. DNA barcoding further revealed two probably undescribed taxa (Bacidina sp. and Psoroglaena sp.). The site thus represents a valuable refugium for early-successional communities and rare lichens in an otherwise lichen-impoverished agricultural landscape. Without appropriate management, however, progressing vegetation succession is likely to threaten its conservation value.