Josef Hafellner (1951– ) is an Austrian

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

and lichenologist. He was awarded the

Acharius Medal __NOTOC__ The Acharius Medal is awarded by the International Association for Lichenology (IAL) for lifetime achievement in lichenology. The organization resolved at its 1990 meeting that it would simultaneously honor professional achievement and ...

in 2016 for his lifetime contributions to lichenology. Before his retirement, he was a professor at the

Karl-Franzens-Universität The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in A ...

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. Hafellner started developing an interest in

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s while he was a student at this institution, studying under Josef Poelt. He earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1975 and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1978, defending a

doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

about the genus '' Karschia''. In 2003, Hafellner received his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

. By this time, he had studied with French lichenologist André Bellemère (1927–2014) at

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a French commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthie ...

, where he learned techniques of

transmission electron microscopy Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through a specimen to form an image. The specimen is most often an ultrathin section less than 100 nm thick or a suspension on a g ...

and how their application in studying asci could be used in lichen

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

. His 1984 work ''Studien in Richtung einer natürlicheren Gliederung der Sammelfamilien Lecanoraceae und Lecideaceae'' has been described as "probably the single most influential publication in lichen systematics in the latter half of the 20th century". His research interests include the

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

and

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

s and

lichenicolous fungi A lichenicolous fungus is a member of a specialised group of fungi that live exclusively on lichens as their host (biology), host organisms. These fungi, comprising over 2,000 known species across 280 genera, exhibit a wide range of ecological st ...

and lichen

floristics Floristics is the study of plants of geographical regions. It is a branch of phytogeography, which technically makes it a branch of botany, geography, and a subbranch of biogeography. Harvard University has a history of research with early contr ...

of the eastern European Alps. He has made about 100,000

scientific collection A scientific collection is a collection of items that are preserved, catalogued, and managed for the purpose of scientific study. Scientific collections dealing specifically with organisms plants, fungi, animals, insects and their remains, may al ...

s of specimens, including about 8000 lichenicolous fungi. Hafellner has introduced more than 600 scientific names to science, and as of 2016, authored or co-authored 289

scientific publication Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical co ...

s. In 2007 he started to edit and distribute the

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

''Lichenicolous Biota''.

Eponymy

Hafellner has been honoured by having several

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

named after him, including five genera: *''

Fellhanera ''Fellhanera'' is a genus of mostly leaf-dwelling lichens in the family Pilocarpaceae. The genus, circumscribed by lichenologist Antonín Vězda in 1986, honours Austrian lichenologist Josef Hafellner. Species , Species Fungorum accepts 56 s ...

'' *''

Fellhaneropsis ''Fellhaneropsis'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Pilocarpaceae. The genus comprises 11 accepted species as of 2025. These inconspicuous lichens form extremely thin, smooth to powdery films that spread over bark, leaves, or o ...

'' *''

Hafellia ''Hafellia'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Caliciaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in tropical regions. The genus is named in honour of the Austrian lichenologist Josef Hafellner. The genus was propos ...

'' *''

Hafellnera ''Schaereria'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi. It is the sole genus in the family Schaereriaceae, which itself is the only family in the Schaereriales, an order in the subclass Ostropomycetidae of the class Lecanoromycetes. Most ''Schaerer ...

'' *'' Henfellra'' The following species are also named after Hafellner: '' Arthonia pepei'' ; '' Biatora hafellneri'' ; '' Biatoropsis hafellneri'' ; '' Caloplaca hafellneri'' ; '' Capronia hafellneri'' ; '' Capronia josefhafellneri'' ; ''

Dactylospora hafellneriana ''Sclerococcum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries. The type species is '' Sclerococcum sphaerale'', originally described in 1814 by Erik Acha ...

'' ; '' Enterographa fellhaneroides'' ; '' Hypotrachyna hafellneri'' ; '' Malcolmiella fellhaneroides'' ; ''

Megalaria hafellneriana ''Megalaria hafellneriana'' is a species of crustose lichen in the family Ramalinaceae. Found in Tasmania, Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by lichenologist Gintaras Kantvilas. The species epithet honours Austrian l ...

'' ; '' Opegrapha hafellneri'' ; '' Phaeosporobolus fellhanerae'' ; '' Schismatomma hafellneri'' ; '' Stigmidium hafellneri'' ; '' Triblidium hafellneri'' ; '' Trichoconis hafellneri'' ; '' Xanthoparmelia hafellneri'' ; '' Xanthoria hafellneri'' .

Selected works

A complete listing of Hafellner's 289 scientific publications up to 2016 is given in Grube and colleagues' commemorative article. Hafellner's major works include the following: * * * *

References

Cited literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hafellner, Josef 1951 births Austrian lichenologists Austrian mycologists Acharius Medal recipients Austrian taxonomists University of Graz alumni Academic staff of the University of Graz 20th-century Austrian scientists 21st-century Austrian scientists Living people