Influence of Stand Age And Structure on the Epiphytic Lichen Vegetation in the Middle-Boreal Forests of Finland

1992 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-180
Author(s):  
M. Hyvärinen ◽  
P. Halonen ◽  
M. Kauppi

Abstract The epiphytic lichen vegetation on the trunks of Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies was studied and analysed by canonical correspondence analysis in relation to a number of environmental variables. The distribution and abundance of epiphytic lichen species proved to be dependent on the age of the stand, showing divergent responses in relation to phorophyte species and environmental variables such as acidity of the bark and vertical location on the trunk. The importance of stand age in the pattern of community variation is concluded to be an outcome of interaction between changes in the structure of the tree canopy, microclimate and properties of the bark. The responses of single lichen species to changes in the environment seem to vary considerably, indicating differences in competitive ability and ecological strategy between the species.

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 2168-2179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Boudreault ◽  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Darwyn Coxson

Alectorioid lichens are the dominant group of epiphytic lichens in boreal forests. Epiphytic lichen richness and abundance generally increase with stand age and within-stand heterogeneity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the importance of time elapsed since the last fire, stand structure, tree size, tree age, and branch height for epiphytic lichen biomass of the boreal forest of western Quebec. We sampled 12 sites belonging to four forest age classes (from 50 to >200 years). We assessed epiphytic lichen biomass of three species groups ( Bryoria , Evernia , and Usnea ) on 12 trees in each site. Our results showed that biomass of Bryoria and Usnea was higher in intermediate stages (between 101 and 200 years) compared with younger (50–100 years) and older (>200 years) stages. Biomass of the three species groups was greater on larger diameter trees (>16 cm) compared with smaller ones (<16 cm). These results indicate that the protection of postfire stands aged between 101 and 200 year should be prioritized to maintain the functional role of epiphytic lichens in managed landscapes.


Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ece Sevgi ◽  
Osman Yalçın Yılmaz ◽  
Gülşah Çobanoğlu Özyiğitoğlu ◽  
Hüseyin Barış Tecimen ◽  
Orhan Sevgi

Lichens have important ecological functions in black pine forests, such as nitrogen fixation and nutrient cycling. Understanding lichen diversity could provide a better understanding of black pine ecosystems. The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting the composition of lichen communities and their specific diversity in Mediterranean black pine forests. Research was conducted in 48 sampling plots. For the analysis, presence–absence and frequency data of lichen species were used. For stand level analysis, four community composition tables were created. We used bioclimate, topography, stand, and parent rock as variables. A total of 33 epiphytic lichen species were identified in the black pine forests from 282 sampled trees. Indicator lichen species were determined according to geographic region and stand age classes. Hypocenomyce scalaris was found to be an indicator species for old forests. Frequency data were more useful for revealing lichen species composition than presence–absence data. Of the topographic variables, elevation was the most prominent and had the highest explanation ratio for the composition of lichen species with a coefficient of correlation (R2) value of 0.49. Significantly positive (p < 0.001) relationships were found between epiphytic lichen richness and tree crown height, tree height, and bark pH. Our results revealed that to retain the trees in the stands rich in lichen species diversity is recommended in the managed forests.


2017 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktoria N. Tarasova ◽  
Roman P. Obabko ◽  
Dmitry E. Himelbrant ◽  
Margarita A. Boychuk ◽  
Irina S. Stepanchikova ◽  
...  

The distribution of epiphytic bryophyte and lichen species growing on aspen in the middle boreal forests was studied in southern Karelia (Russia). These forests varied in time-since-disturbance from 80 to 450 years. Two hundred twenty two species of epiphytes, including 178 lichens, 32 mosses and 12 liverworts, were recorded on 192 aspen trees in forests over 24 ha, in the Karelian part of the Vodlozero National Park, Kivach Strict Nature Reserve, Kizhi Sanctuary and Petrozavodsk City. Arthonia biatoricola, A. excipienda and Biatoridium monasteriense were collected in Karelia for the first time. Eighteen rare species (lichens Anaptychia ciliaris, Arthonia vinosa, Bryoria nadvornikiana, Chaenotheca gracilenta, C. stemonea, Lecidea albofuscescens, Lobaria pulmonaria, Melanelixia subaurifera, Nephroma bellum, N. laevigatum, Phaeocalicium populneum, Ramalina thrausta, Rostania occultata, Scytinium subtile, Usnea barbata, mosses Neckera pennata, Plagiomnium drummondii and liverwort Lejeunea cavifolia) listed in the Red Data Book of Republic of Karelia (2007) were found. Relationships between epiphytic lichen and bryophyte species richness and certain environmental variables (at different trunk heights above ground and time-since-disturbance) were evaluated. Lichens and mosses on aspen trunks often occupy different ecological niches. Cover and diversity of bryophytes was high on trunk bases, while the number of lichen species and their cover were higher at a height of 1.3 m above ground level. The total number of lichen species on aspen increased on average from 40 to 60 species per ha with increasing time-since-disturbance from 100 to 450 years. A stabilization in lichen species number was observed at about 200 years since disturbance. No significant correlation was determined between bryophyte diversity on aspens and the time-since-disturbance. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 3-34
Author(s):  
Ulf Schiefelbein ◽  
Frieda Engel ◽  
Franziska Masberg ◽  
Svea Lübke ◽  
Johann Schiefelbein ◽  
...  

Die Flechtendiversität und -quantität wurde in den Jahren 2017/2018 in Rostock an 53 Bäumen erfasst. Die Ergebnisse wurden mit den Ergebnissen einer Kartierung von 1994/1995 verglichen. Ferner wurden die Feuchtigkeitsverhältnisse und der Grad der Eutrophierung bzw. die Luftqualität an den Bäumen der Gattungen Tilia und Acer anhand des bekannten Verhaltens der nachgewiesenen Flechten bezüglich Luftfeuchtigkeit/Niederschlägen, Eutrophierung und pH-Verhältnissen bewertet. 2017/2018 wurden 79 Flechtenarten und 14 lichenicole Pilzarten nachgewiesen. Die Gesamtzahl der im Untersuchungsgebiet nachgewiesenen epiphytischen Flechtenarten erhöhte sich damit auf 80. Die meisten Flechtenarten kommen an Tilia spec. (60), Acer pseudoplatanus (43) und A. platanoides (34) vor. Die häufigsten Arten sind Phaeophyscia orbicularis, Physcia adscendens, Ph. tenella und Xanthoria parietina. Candelariella xanthostigmoides, Flavoparmelia soredians, Hyperphyscia adglutinata, Intralichen lichenum, Lecanora subcarpinea, Parmelia serrana, Parmelina quercina und Taeniolella delicata sind Neufunde für Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Hinsichtlich der Verbreitung und des Charakters der Fundorte können die nachgewiesenen Flechten und lichenicolen Pilze drei Gruppen zugeordnet werden: 1. Arten, die auch an stark befahrenen Straßen oder in eng bebauten Wohngebieten mit wenig Grünflächen und in den Stadtgebieten Kröpeliner Tor-Vorstadt oder Stadtmitte vorkamen, 2. Arten, die auch noch in locker bebauten, grünreichen Wohngebieten und in kleineren Grünlagen der Neubaugebiete vorkamen, aber nicht mehr in der Kröpeliner Tor-Vorstadt und Stadtmitte nachgewiesen wurden, 3. Arten, die nur an Bäumen vorkamen, die sich in der Nähe zum Offenland befinden. Der ersten Gruppe wurden 22, der zweiten Gruppe 32 und der dritten Gruppe 25 Flechtenarten zugeordnet. Dem Verhältnis zwischen der Frequenzsumme der stark nitrophytischen Arten und der Frequenzsumme der a-, schwach und mäßig nitrophytischen Arten auf den Bäumen entsprechend, wird die Luftqualität an 15 Bäumen der Gattungen Acer und Tilia für gut, an 14 Bäumen für mäßig und an 13 Bäumen für schlecht befunden. Auf der Grundlage des Verhältnisses zwischen der Anzahl basiphytischer Arten und der Summe an Arten an sauren oder/und subneutralen Borken wurden sechs Standorte als wenig, 21 Standorte als mäßig und 15 Standorte als stark schadstoffbelastet eingestuft. Meso- bis hygrophytische Flechten kamen an zehn Standorten mit nur ein oder zwei Arten, an 21 Standorten mit drei bis fünf Arten und an elf Standorten mit mehr als fünf Arten vor. Die epiphytische Flechtenflora hat sich in Rostock seit 1995 gravierend verändert. Es nahmen 69 Flechten im Bestand zu, von denen sich 52 Arten erst nach 1995 angesiedelt haben. Bei 32 Flechten ist eine schwache, bei 19 Flechten eine mäßige und bei 18 Flechten eine starke Zunahme zu verzeichnen. Lecanora conizaeoides kam 2017/2018 nicht mehr vor, vier Arten haben im Bestand abgenommen. Changes in the epiphytic lichen flora in the urban area of Rostock between 1994/1995 and 2017/2018 In 2017/2018, diversity and quantity of lichens were studied on 53 trees in Rostock city. The results were compared with the results of a mapping project in 1994/1995. Humidity conditions and degree of eutrophication at trees of the genera Tilia and Acer were interpreted with reference to the known indicator characteristcs of the lichen species concerning air humidity/precipitation, eutrophication and pH conditions. In 2017/2018, 79 lichen species and 14 lichenicolous fungus species were found. The total number of lichens increased to 80 species. Most species were found on Tilia spec. (60), Acer pseudoplatanus (43) and A. platanoides (34). The most common species are Phaeophyscia orbicularis, Physcia adscendens, Ph. tenella and Xanthoria parietina. Candelariella xanthostigmoides, Flavoparmelia soredians, Hyperphyscia adglutinata, Intralichen lichenum, Lecanora subcarpinea, Parmelia serrana, Parmelina quercina and Taeniolella delicata are new to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The distribution and characteristics of the collection sites allow for deviding the species into three groups: 1. species also present along streets with heavy traffic or in densely populated residential areas with a lack of green areas and in the districts Kröpeliner Tor-Vorstadt or City Centre, 2. species still present in sparse residential areas and smaller green areas but not in the districts Kröpeliner Tor-Vorstadt or City Centre, 3. species only colonizing trees close to the open landscape. Twenty-two species were assigned to the first, 32 species to the second and 25 species to the latter group. According to the proportion between the sum of frequencies of the strongly nitrophytic lichens and the sum of frequencies of the anitrophytic and moderately nitrophytic lichens on trees, air quality was indicated to be good at 15 trees of the genera Acer and Tilia, moderate at 14 trees and bad at 13 trees. Based on the proportion between the number of basiphytic lichen species and the sum of species colonizing acidophytic and subneutrophytic bark, six locations were categorized as little, 21 locations as moderately and 15 locations as strongly polluted. Mesophytic or hygrophytic lichens were present with only one or two species at ten locations, three to five species at 21 locations and over five species at 11 locations. Within the period under consideration, the epiphytic lichen flora of the Rostock urban area changed considerably. The populations of 69 lichen species increased, with 52 lichens newly establishing after 1995. In 32 lichen species a slight, in 19 species a moderate, and in 18 species a strong population increase was recorded. Lecanora conizaeoides disappeared and the populations of four species decreased.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-158
Author(s):  
Robert J. Smith ◽  
Sarah Jovan ◽  
Susan Will-Wolf

AbstractLichens occupy diverse substrates across tremendous ranges of environmental variation. In boreal forests, lichen communities co-occur in ‘strata’ defined by terrestrial or arboreal substrates, but these strata may or may not be interchangeable as bioindicators. Do co-occurring lichen strata have similar community structures and environmental responses? Could one stratum serve as a proxy for the other? We assessed variation in species richness and community compositions between ground-layer versus epiphyte-layer lichen strata in boreal forests and peatlands of interior Alaska. Species richness was lower and more spatially structured in the ground layer than the epiphyte layer. Richness of strata was not correlated. The most compositionally unique ground-layer communities were species-poor but contained regionally rare species not common in other plots. Variation in community compositions (ordination scores) were not congruent between strata (Procrustes congruence < 0.16 on 0–1 scale); the largest departures from congruence occurred where ground layers were species-poor. The best predictors of ground-layer community compositions were hydrological and topographic, whereas epiphytes were most associated with macroclimate and tree abundances. We conclude that lichens on different substrates ‘move in different circles’: compositional gradients did not agree and the environmental gradients most important to each lichen stratum were not the same. The conditions which strongly influence one vegetation stratum may have little bearing upon another. As global changes modify habitats, an incremental change in environment may lead community trajectories to diverge among lichen strata.


2008 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Langor ◽  
H.E. James Hammond ◽  
John R. Spence ◽  
Joshua Jacobs ◽  
Tyler P. Cobb

AbstractSaproxylic insect assemblages inhabiting dead wood in Canadian forests are highly diverse and variable but quite poorly understood. Adequate assessment of these assemblages poses significant challenges with respect to sampling, taxonomy, and analysis. Their assessment is nonetheless critical to attaining the broad goals of sustainable forest management because such species are disproportionately threatened elsewhere by the reductions in dead wood generally associated with commercial exploitation of northern forests. The composition of the saproxylic fauna is influenced by many factors, including tree species, degree of decay, stand age, and cause of tree death. Wildfire and forest harvesting have differential impacts on saproxylic insect assemblages and on their recovery in postdisturbance stands. Exploration of saproxylic insect responses to variable retention harvesting and experimental burns is contributing to the development of prescriptions for conserving saproxylic insects in boreal forests. Understanding of processes that determine diversity patterns and responses of saproxylic insects would benefit from increased attention to natural history. Such work should aim to provide a habitat-classification system for dead wood to better identify habitats (and associated species) at risk as a result of forest management. This tool could also be used to improve strategies to better maintain saproxylic organisms and their central nutrient-cycling functions in managed forests.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e0147004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Bäcklund ◽  
Mari Jönsson ◽  
Joachim Strengbom ◽  
Andreas Frisch ◽  
Göran Thor

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laperriere Genevieve ◽  
Chagnon Pierre-Luc ◽  
Giguère-Tremblay Roxanne ◽  
Morneault Amélie ◽  
Bisson Danny ◽  
...  

Fungi play important roles in forest ecosystems and understanding fungal diversity is crucial to address essential questions about species conservation and ecosystems management. Changes in fungal diversity can have severe impacts on ecosystem functionality. Unfortunately, little is known about fungal diversity in northern temperate and boreal forests, and we have yet to understand how abiotic variables shape fungal richness and composition. Our objectives were to make an overview of the fungal richness and the community composition in the region and identify their major abiotic drivers. We sampled 262 stands across the northern temperate and boreal Quebec forest located in the region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Mauricie, and Haute-Mauricie. At each site, we characterized fungal composition using Illumina sequencing, as well as several potential abiotic drivers (e.g., humus thickness, soil pH, vegetation cover, etc.). We tested effects of abiotic drivers on species richness using generalized linear models, while difference in fungal composition between stands was analyzed with permutational multivariate analysis of variance and beta-diversity partitioning analyses. Fungi from the order Agaricales, Helotiales, and Russulales were the most frequent and sites from the north of Abitibi-Témiscamingue showed the highest OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Unit) richness. Stand age and moss cover were the best predictors of fungal richness. On the other hand, the strongest drivers of fungal community structure were soil pH, average cumulative precipitation, and stand age, although much of community variance was left unexplained in our models. Overall, our regional metacommunity was characterized by high turnover rate, even when rare OTUs were removed. This may indicate strong environmental filtering by several unmeasured abiotic filters, or stronger than expected dispersal limitations in soil fungal communities. Our results show how difficult it can be to predict fungal community assembly even with high replication and efforts to include several biologically relevant explanatory variables.


2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Kivistö ◽  
Mikko Kuusinen

AbstractThe edge effect of large clear-cuts on the epiphytic lichen flora of Picea abies in old-growth forest fragments was studied at three south-exposed and four north-exposed forest clear-cut edges in middle boreal Finland. The sampling of the species cover on trunk bases was carried out along four transects parallel to the forest margin: (1) at the forest margin, (2) 10 m from the margin, (3) 20 m from the margin and (4) 50 m from the margin. In addition, control trees were sampled > 100 m from nearest edge. Our results showed that the epiphytic lichen species diversity was lower at the forest margin than in the forest interior for sunny south-facing edges, while the species diversity in north-exposed edges was independent of the distance from the forest margin. The cover of a common and abundant lichen species, Parmeliopsis ambigua, was slightly higher at the forest edge and decreased inside the forest for both south-exposed and north-exposed edges.


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