Projection of species-response to climate change scenarios is a key tool in conservation
strategy. Previous studies have projected climate change impacts for animal and vascular
plant species using the ‘bioclimatic envelope’ approach. In this study we apply the principles
of the bioclimatic envelope approach to examine the response of 26 lichen species
whose distributions are well characterised within the British Isles. Lichen species were subjectively
selected based on their contrasting distributions, and their ecological traits, which
fulfilled as closely as possible the assumptions of the bioclimatic envelope method. We
used a split-sampling approach to model the species-response to present-day climate
using confirmed records and pseudo-absences as input data, and testing each model
against an ‘independent’ calibration dataset. Predictive models were projected using standard
climate change scenarios comprising the UKCIP02 data. Projections indicate broad
trends in the response of species placed into contrasting biogeographic groups, and point
to the potential for significant change in the spatial distribution of the British lichen flora.
We highlight putative threats to montane and Boreal elements of the lichen flora, and
emphasise significant uncertainty in projected response of the UK’s internationally important
oceanic flora.