EPIPHYTE RESPONSE TO WOODLAND HABITAT CONDITION ASSESSED USING COMMUNITY INDICATORS: A SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR SCOTLAND’S TEMPERATE RAIN FOREST

National vegetation classification (NVC) has been widely applied as a framework for mapping and conserving plant species and community types. However, a limited availability of expertise has prevented NVCs from being developed and used in cryptogam-dominated systems, such as for temperate and boreal epiphyte communities. This study simplified a recent systematically sampled NVC, trialled for epiphyte communities in Scotland, by reducing the original list of 82 community indicators to 34 easily recognisable species (lichens, mosses and liverworts). These were subsequently sampled from woodland sites positioned in Scotland’s temperate rain forest zone. Sites were positioned among localities in less intensively managed landscapes (northwest Scotland) through to peri-urban environments (southern Scotland), grouping sites for each locality based on a contrast in woodland temporal continuity (ancient or recent). The richness and diversity of epiphyte community indicators were compared with easily measured variables reflecting stand heterogeneity or ecological stability, and woodland temporal continuity, with air pollution as a covariable. Richness and diversity were significantly explained by the ecological stability of woodland stands, heterogeneity of the light environment, and nitrogen pollution. This demonstrates a tool that can be deployed by the non-specialist, with appropriate training, to quantify the condition of a woodland stand through consequences for its epiphytes in globally important temperate rain forest. The pattern of richness and diversity was consistent with the co-occurrence of particular indicator species, which represent the range of epiphyte community types supported by a woodland.

Bactrospora homalotropa. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

A description is provided for Bactrospora homalotropa, found on tree trunks and branches, and woody twigs of shrubs, almost always on species with smooth, relatively basic bark. Some information on its associated organisms and substrata, habitat, dispersal and transmission, and conservation status is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (North America (USA (Maine, West Virginia)), Asia (Iran), Atlantic Ocean (Portugal (Azores, Madeira), Spain (Canary Islands)), Australasia (Australia (Tasmania)), Europe (Ireland, Norway, UK)). This species is routinely used in the British Isles as an indicator when making ecological assessments, specifically as an indicator of ecological continuity, particularly in the west of Ireland and the west of Scotland, and of oceanic and temperate rain forest.

Crutarndina petractoides. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

A description is provided for Crutarndina petractoides, reported from living bark of smooth-barked trees, especially Corylus avellana. Some information on its associated organisms and substrata, habitat, dispersal and transmission, and conservation status is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (Africa (South Africa), North America (Bahamas, Canada (British Columbia), USA (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee)), South America (Ecuador), Asia (Singapore), Atlantic Ocean (Portugal (Madeira), Spain (Canary Islands)), Europe (France, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, UK)). This species is routinely used in the British Isles and Norway as an indicator when making ecological assessments, particularly temperate rain forest, and specifically as an indicator of ecological continuity, particularly in the west of Ireland and the west of Scotland.

Arthonia ilicina. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

A description is provided for Arthonia ilicina, which is frequently found on living and dead bark of smooth-barked trees, usually but perhaps not invariably in regions with a moist climate. Some information on its associated organisms and substrata, habitat, dispersal and transmission, and conservation status is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (Africa (South Africa), North America (Canada (British Columbia, Newfoundland), USA (Alaska, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington)), South America (Argentina, Ecuador, Chile), Asia (Taiwan), Atlantic Ocean (Portugal (Azores, Madeira), Spain (Canary Islands)), Australasia (Australia (New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia)), Caribbean (Cuba), Europe (Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, UK)). This species is routinely used in the British Isles as an indicator when making ecological assessments, and specifically as an indicator of ecological continuity, particularly in the west of Ireland and the west of Scotland, and of oceanic and temperate rain forest.

Leptogium burgessii. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

A description is provided for Leptogium burgessii, which, in the British Isles, is most frequently observed on mossy trunks, especially Corylus avellana and Fraxinus excelsior, but also on mossy rocks. Some information on its associated organisms and substrata, habitat, dispersal and transmission, and conservation status is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania), North America (Canada (New Brunswick), Mexico, USA (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Texas, West Virginia)), Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama), South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela), Asia (Bhutan, China (Sichuan, Yunnan), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand), Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand), Atlantic Ocean (Portugal (Azores, Madeira), Spain (Canary Islands)), Australasia (Australia (Victoria), New Zealand), Caribbean (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica), Europe (Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, UK), Indian Ocean (French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Amsterdam and St Paul Islands), Mauritius, Réunion)). This species is routinely used in the British Isles as an indicator when making ecological assessments, and specifically as an indicator of ecological continuity, particularly in the west of Ireland and the west of Scotland, and of oceanic and temperate rain forest.

Upper canopy pollinators of Eucryphia cordifolia Cav., a tree of South American temperate rain forest

Ecological processes in the upper canopy of temperate forests have been seldom studied because of the limited accessibility. Here, we present the results of the first survey of the pollinator assemblage and the frequency of insect visits to flowers in the upper branches of ulmo, Eucryphia cordifolia Cav., an emergent 30-40 m-tall tree in rainforests of Chiloé Island, Chile. We compared these findings with a survey of flower visitors restricted to lower branches of E. cordifolia 1- in the forest understory, 2- in lower branches in an agroforestry area. We found 10 species of pollinators in canopy, and eight, 12 and 15 species in understory, depending of tree locations. The main pollinators of E. cordifolia in the upper canopy differed significantly from the pollinator assemblage recorded in lower tree branches. We conclude that the pollinator assemblages of the temperate forest canopy and interior are still unknown.