World distribution: According to Hakulinen & Ulvinen (1966) and Randlane & Saag (1989) the species has a wide amphi-Beringian distribution. It is rare in Eurasia west of Ural and not known from Svalbard or Iceland. In North America it is common around the Bering Strait, but rare elsewhere; it is not known from Greenland. Its southernmost sites includes the high mountains of Japan (Honshu). A map is provided by Hakulinen & Ulvinen (1966). The species occurs in northern boreal and arctic regions. In Fennoscandia Asahinea chrysantha is only known from Norway and has a strongly northeastern distribution. The nearest sites outside Norway are on the Kola peninsula and on Novaya Zemlya
Ecology: Results. The species occurred on sloping, mainly north-facing rock and, more rarely, on horizontal rock and on pebbles. The bedrock was hard (gneissic). It grew on naked rock, over other saxicolous lichens (crustose as well as fruticose and foliose ones) or mosses or on rock with thin soil cover. In both areas it occurred on maritime rocks close to sea-level. However, in Nesseby (1) it was most abundant in an open Betula forests, from a few hundred meters to one kilometer from the sea-shore. Close associates were Alectoria nigricans, Arctoparmelia centrifuga, Cetraria cucullata, C. hepatizon, Hypogymnia physodes, Ochrolechia frigida, and Thamnolia vermicularis. In Porsanger (4), A. chrysantha grew near Siphula ceratites on more or less horizontal rock, but the latter was confined to depressions, a microhabitat where A. chrysantha was not observed. One specimen occurred on pebbles on the roadside bank of a newly constructed gravel road. Discussion. Asahinea chrysantha appears to be a species of dry, acidic rock in exposed situations, intolerant of a thick snow cover. It can tolerate a maritime environment. It is apparently a strong competitor, overgrowing other lichens and mosses, and able to rapidly colonize newly available rock surfaces by windblown thallus fragments
Threats: Results. Assumed threats were trampling (1) and collecting (2). Discussion. Due to its small size, random extinction is a threat to the population in Porsanger (4). In Nesseby, a main road (E6) cuts through one of the localities (1), but so far this does not seem to have harmed the population seriously. There is a road-side rest area at this site, and trampling by man may cause some damage to the population
Status: Three populations were investigated. In Porsanger (4) the population is small (occurring within 30 x 10 m2), but the thalli were well-developed (up to 30 cm in diameter; about 30 thalli were 1 dm or more in diameter). In Nesseby the species occurs rather abundantly within an area extending c. 3 km from east to west. It is here regarded as three distinct localities (1, 3, 1719), but these may be continuous. How far it extends southwards from the Varangerfjord is not known. The species is obviously occurring very locally in Finnmark, and has been sought for during this project in Lebesby, Tana, on the northeast coast of the Varanger Peninsula, and in the inner parts of the Varanger Peninsula. There are no protected localities. Protection of the Nesseby locality was proposed by Elven & Johansen (1983) because of a well developed seashore vegetation
Notes: We have found no information about the status of the Russian populations. The Norwegian populations may be the richest in Europe. If so, Norway has a European responsibility for the species..
Specimens in other herbaria, litterature, etc.