Bacidia sorediata is a crustose lichen this is common and widespread in eastern North America. It is under threat from sea-level rise and an array of anthropocentric shifts or alternations in forested temperate habitats. Nonetheless the population is presumed to be stable and declines have not been detected in EOO or AOO, though this may be due to a lack of historical occurrences stemming from collection bias. For these reasons it is assessed as Least Concern.

Bacidia sorediata is a crustose lichen characterized by its chemistry, a pale to dark-green crustose thallus and the presence of soredia (Lendemer & Noell 2018). Despite being widely observed and collected by researchers, this species had not been formally described due to the absence of identifiable sexual characteristics (Lendemer et al. 2016). As a typically sterile species, B. sorediata was placed within Bacidia using molecular data, but can be readily recognized by morphology and the presence specific secondary compounds.

Bacidia sorediata is widely distributed in temperate eastern North America, especially the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. It is especially common and abundant in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain of the eastern United States between New Jersey and northern Florida (Lendemer et al. 2016).

Bacidia sorediata is found in the bark and associated bryophytes on bases, lower trunks and boles of both living hardwood and conifer trees. It predominantly inhabits humid habitats such as swamp forests and riparian corridors (Lendemer et al. 2016).

Threats to Bacidia sorediata are due to logging, ditching and draining of wetlands and peatlands, conversion of suitable habitat for agriculture and silviculture (Lendemer et al. 2016, Kong et al. 2021, Martinuzzi et al. 2015). Low lying habitats where the species is especially abundant are also threatened by sea-level rise in terms of loss of host trees due to more frequent storms and flooding as well as inundation and coastal erosion (Allen & Lendemer 2014). Urbanization and coastal development (residential and recreational) also factors impacting the habitats the species occurs in along the Atlantic Coast (Simkin et al. 2022).

Conservation efforts for Bacidia sorediata should prioritize habitat protection and restoration initiatives. Also, targeted population surveys and public awareness campaigns are essential for determining long term trends and potential declines of both the species and its suitable habitat.

Further research is needed to gain a better understanding of the ecological requirements, population dynamics, and fine-scale distribution patterns of Bacidia sorediata . Moreover, it is important to investigate the scale and scope of known threats such as habitat degradation and sea-level rise to develop effective conservation strategies for this species.

This species is collected for scientific research with no other documented direct human use.