Lobaria pulmonaria is a conspicuous and widely known epiphytic lichen species which mainly occurs on mature hardwood trees in old forests. The distribution of L. pulmonaria has become highly fragmented, showing a decline across Europe. Lobaria pulmonaria is unevenly distributed among ca. 600 localities in Estonia. Most localities are in north-eastern and south-western Estonia (50% and 21% of records respectively). 86% of L. pulmonaria localities are in nature reserves, national parks or woodland key habitats (WKH). In 81% of historical localities known until 1992, L. pulmonaria could be considered extinct. 6% of L. pulmonaria localities have become destroyed in the period from 1993 to 2010 due to clear cutting; in 19% of localities the species could be considered endangered, as its neighbourhood is affected by forest management activities. 40% of destroyed localities are located in forests designated as WKHs in north-eastern Estonia, and most of the endangered populations are also within WKHs. In forest management and conservation planning, WKHs should be preserved with surrounding buffer areas in order to avoid abrupt changes in environmental condition and natural disturbance regimes. There is also a necessity to develop specific management methods to recover reforested wooded meadows, to ensure that species of semi-open habitats are retained, e.g. by reducing the density of spruce.
