| Klaus Kalb | |
| Birth Date: | 1942 |
| Birth Place: | Nuremberg, Germany |
| Nationality: | German |
| Fields: | Lichenology |
| Workplaces: | Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro |
| Alma Mater: | University of Erlangen–Nuremberg |
Klaus Kalb (born 1942) is a German lichenologist and an authority on tropical lichens.
Klaus Kalb was born in Nuremberg in 1942 and grew up in southern Bavaria. From 1960 to 1965 he studied biology, chemistry, and geography at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg. Kalb was greatly interested in lichens and decided to pursue a doctoral degree; his thesis work was about lichen communities in the Ötztal Alps. From 1978 to 1981, he was a teacher at the Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro in São Paulo, Brazil. This position afforded him the opportunity to initiate research into tropical lichens. Kalb earned his habilitation from the University of Regensburg in 1989, becoming an associate professor with that institution. He is editing the exsiccata series Lichenes Neotropici,[1] starting with 2017 together with André Aptroot.
In 2014, the University of Wisconsin herbarium purchased Kalb's lichen collection of 60,000 specimens for $75,000. With the acquisition of Kalb's collection, rich in tropical and European specimens, the herbarium houses about 70% of the world's known lichen taxa.
In 2007, on the occasion of his retirement, Kalb was honoured with a Festschrift, featuring 24 scientific papers written by 51 authors. The Festschrift included a publication list, a list of taxa described by him and of taxa named after him.
Four lichen genera have been named in honour of Kalb: Kalbiana ; Kalbographa ; Kalbionora ; and Klauskalbia .
Many species have also been named to honour Kalb. These include: Acanthothecis kalbii ; Acanthotrema kalbii ; Astrochapsa kalbii ; Byssoloma kalbii Caloplaca kalbiorum ; Chaenothecopsis kalbii Chapsa kalbii ; Cladina kalbii ; Coenogonium kalbii ; Compsocladium kalbii ; Enterographa kalbii ; Gyalideopsis kalbii ; Heterodermia kalbii ; Hypotrachyna kalbii ; Hypotrachyna klauskalbii ; Lecanora kalbiana ; Lecanora klauskalbii ; Lecidea kalbii ; Leptogium kalbii ; Megalospora kalbii ; Musaespora kalbii ; Ocellularia kalbii ; Opegrapha blakii ; Opegrapha kalbii ; Pertusaria kalbii ; Phaeographis kalbii ; Phyllopsora kalbii ; Physcia kalbii ; Piccolia kalbii ; Pseudocyphellaria kalbi ; Pseudoparmelia kalbiana ; Rinodina kalbii ; Roselliniella kalbii ; Trichothelium kalbii ; Usnea kalbiana ; Xanthoparmelia kalbii ; Xanthoparmelia klauskalbii ; Xanthoparmelia neokalbii ; and Lecanora kalbii .
As of 2012, Kalb had about 120 scientific publications, particularly on tropical lichens. Some of his major works include: