Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T22:08:51.189Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Deciduous trees as lichen phorophytes: biodiversity and colonization patterns under common garden conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2020

Hanne Marie Ellegård Larsen*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Eric Steen Hansen
Affiliation:
Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Thomas Nord-Larsen
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Hanne Nina Rasmussen
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
*
Author for correspondence: Hanne M. E. Larsen. E-mail: hala@ign.ku.dk

Abstract

Common gardens are experimental plantations for comparing the performance of tree species while eliminating many of the variables that prevail in natural tree stands. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biodiversity of corticolous lichens on Danish tree species (Acer pseudoplatanus, Alnus glutinosa, Betula pendula, Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus robur and Tilia cordata) under common garden conditions and to examine the height distribution of particular lichen species. Observations were recorded through regular sampling of at least 36 lichen species on the main stems (from the base of the stem to the treetops) of 44-year-old trees at four common garden sites. Acer pseudoplatanus and Fraxinus excelsior had the greatest lichen species richness and Shannon diversity values while these measures were significantly lower for Betula pendula and Fagus sylvatica. The distribution of lichen species appeared biased among tree species. The general lichen distribution and relative sample height were weakly related (nonmetric multidimensional scaling). However, single lichen species showed a clear differential distribution along the tree stem (P < 0.001, non-parametric multiplicative regression and logistic log-binomial regression). Lepraria incana, Pseudosagedia aenea and Arthonia atra were mainly found at the stem base while Lecanora carpinea, L. chlarotera, Lecidella elaeochroma, Physcia tenella and Xanthoria parietina, were most abundant at around 70% of the total tree height. The differential distribution of single lichen species presumably reflects different specific requirements during spore germination and thallus growth. By isolating the unique effect of key variables (tree species and height), this study contributes to the knowledge base of corticolous lichen ecology.

Type
Standard Papers
Copyright
Copyright © British Lichen Society 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Aragón, G, Martínez, P, Izquierdo, P, Belinchón, R and Escudero, A (2010) Effects of forest management on epiphytic lichen diversity in Mediterranean forests. Applied Vegetation Science 13, 183194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, JW (1992) Influence of chemical and physical factors in Quercus and Fraxinus epiphytes at Loch Sunart, western Scotland: a multivariate analysis. Journal of Ecology 80, 163179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calviño-Cancela, M, López de Silanes, ME, Rubido-Bará, M and Uribarri, J (2013) The potential role of tree plantations in providing habitat for lichen epiphytes. Forest Ecology and Management 291, 386395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coote, L, Smith, GF, Kelly, DL, O'Donoghue, S, Dowding, P, Iremonger, S and Mitchell, FJG (2008) Epiphytes of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) plantations in Ireland and the effects of open spaces. Biodiversity and Conservation 17, 953968.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Culberson, WL (1955) The corticolous communities of lichens and bryophytes in the upland forests of northern Wisconsin. Ecological Monographs 25, 215231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, CJ (2012) Lichen epiphyte diversity: a species, community and trait-based review. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 14, 131152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fanning, E, Ely, JS, Lumbsch, HT and Keller, HW (2007) Vertical distribution of lichen growth forms in tree canopies of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Southeastern Naturalist 6, 8388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fritz, Ö (2009) Vertical distribution of epiphytic bryophytes and lichens emphasizes the importance of old beeches in conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation 19, 745760.Google Scholar
Fritz, Ö, Gustafsson, L and Larsson, K (2008) Does forest continuity matter in conservation? A study of epiphytic lichens and bryophytes in beech forests of southern Sweden. Biological Conservation 141, 655668.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fritz, Ö, Brunet, J and Caldiz, M (2009) Interacting effects of tree characteristics on the occurrence of rare epiphytes in a Swedish beech forest area. Bryologist 112, 488505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, GP (1971) The ecology of corticolous lichens: 1. The zonation on oak and birch in South Devon. Journal of Ecology 59, 431439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hauck, M (2011) Site factors controlling epiphytic lichen abundance in northern coniferous forests. Flora – Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants 206, 8190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffmann, A (2007) Forskelle i skovbundsvegetation og omsætningsprocesser under seks træarter på seks lokaliteter i Danmark. Master's thesis, University of Copenhagen [In Danish].Google Scholar
Johansson, V, Snäll, T, Johansson, P and Ranius, T (2010) Detection probability and abundance estimation of epiphytic lichens based on height-limited surveys. Journal of Vegetation Science 21, 332341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jüriado, I, Liira, J, Paal, J and Suija, A (2009) Tree and stand level variables influencing diversity of lichens on temperate broad-leaved trees in boreo-nemoral floodplain forests. Biodiversity and Conservation 18, 105125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Käffer, MI, Marcelli, MP and Ganade, G (2010) Distribution and composition of the lichenized mycota in a landscape mosaic of southern Brazil. Acta Botanica Brasilica 24, 790802.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufmann, S, Hauck, M and Leuschner, C (2017) Comparing the plant diversity of paired beech primeval and production forests: management reduces cryptogam, but not vascular plant species richness. Forest Ecology and Management 400, 5867.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kershaw, KA (1964) Preliminary observations on the distribution and ecology of epiphytic lichens in Wales. Lichenologist 2, 263276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiebacher, T, Keller, C, Sheidegger, C and Bergamini, A (2016) Hidden crown jewels: the role of tree crowns for bryophyte and lichen species richness in sycamore maple wooded pastures. Biodiversity and Conservation 25, 16051624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Király, I, Nascimbene, J, Tinya, F and Ódor, P (2013) Factors influencing epiphytic bryophyte and lichen species richness at different spatial scales in managed temperate forests. Biodiversity and Conservation 22, 209223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kruskal, JB (1964) Nonmetric multidimensional scaling: a numerical method. Psychometrika 29, 115129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuusinen, M (1996) Epiphytic flora and diversity on basal trunks of six old-growth forest tree species in southern and middle boreal Finland. Lichenologist 28, 443463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamit, LJ, Lau, MK, Næsborg, RR, Wojtowicz, T, Whitham, TG and Gehring, CA (2015) Genotype variation in bark texture drives lichen community assembly across multiple environments. Ecology 96, 960971.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larsen, HME, Rasmussen, HN and Nord-Larsen, T (2017) The water holding capacity of bark in Danish angiosperm trees. Poster session presented at IUFRO Division 5 Conference 2017, Vancouver, Canada. [WWW document] URL https://static-curis.ku.dk/portal/files/186122771/The_water_holding_capacity_of_bark.pdf https://curis.ku.dk/admin/files/186122771/The_water_holding_capacity_of_bark.pdf. [Accessed 18 September 2019].Google Scholar
Marmor, L, Tõrra, T, Saag, L and Randlane, T (2010) The vertical gradient of bark pH and epiphytic macrolichen biota in relation to alkaline air pollution. Ecological Indicators 10, 11371143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marmor, L, Tõrra, T, Saag, L and Leppik, E (2013) Lichens on Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris – from tree bottom to the top. Lichenologist 45, 5163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mather, PM (1976) Computational Methods of Multivariate Analysis in Physical Geography. London: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
McCune, B (2011) Nonparametric multiplicative regression for habitat modeling. Oregon State University. [WWW document] URL http://static1.squarespace.com/static/58f588c93e00be17785ced5d/t/5bcce48be79c7058b9843855/1540154511992/NPMRintro.pdf. [Accessed 25 March 2019].Google Scholar
McCune, B and Grace, JB (2002) Analysis of Ecological Communities. Gleneden Beach, Oregon: MjM Software Design.Google Scholar
McCune, B and Mefford, MJ (2009) HyperNiche. Nonparametric multiplicative modeling. Version 2.3. Gleneden Beach, Oregon: MjM Software Design.Google Scholar
McCune, B and Mefford, MJ (2016) PC-ORD. Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data. Version 7. Gleneden Beach, Oregon: MjM Software Design.Google Scholar
McCune, B and Root, HT (2015) Origin of the dust bunny distribution in ecological community data. Plant Ecology 216, 645656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nord-Larsen, T, Meilby, H and Skovsgaard, JP (2017) Simultaneous estimation of biomass models for 13 tree species: effects of compatible additivity requirements. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 47, 765776.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Öztürk, S and Güvenç, S (2010) Comparison of the epiphytic lichen communities growing on various tree species on Mt. Uludağ (Bursa, Turkey). Turkish Journal of Botany 34, 449456.Google Scholar
Perhans, K, Gustafsson, L, Jonsson, F, Nordin, U and Weibull, H (2007) Bryophytes and lichens in different types of forest set-asides in boreal Sweden. Forest Ecology and Management 242, 374390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petersen, PM and Vestergaard, P (2006) Vegetationsøkologi. Fourth edition. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S [In Danish].Google Scholar
Rambo, TR (2010) Structure and composition of corticolous epiphyte communities in a Sierra Nevada old-growth mixed-conifer forest. Bryologist 113, 5571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, HN, Nord-Larsen, T, Hansen, ES and Hoareau, G (2018) Estimation of life history in corticolous lichens by zonation. Lichenologist 50, 697704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sales, K, Kerr, L and Gardner, J (2016) Factors influencing epiphytic moss and lichen distribution within Killarney National Park. Bioscience Horizons 9, 112.Google Scholar
Smith, CW, Aptroot, A, Coppins, BJ, Fletcher, A, Gilbert, OL, James, PW and Wolseley, PA (eds) (2009) The Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland. London: British Lichen Society.Google Scholar
Spier, L, van Dobben, H and van Dort, K (2010) Is bark pH more important than tree species in determining the composition of nitrophytic or acidophytic lichen floras? Environmental Pollution 158, 36073611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Štifterová, A and Neustupa, J (2015) Community structure of corticolous microalgae within a single forest stand: evaluating the effects of bark surface pH and tree species. Journal of the Czech Phycological Society 15, 113122.Google Scholar
Svoboda, D, Peksa, O and Veselá, J (2010) Epiphytic lichen diversity in central European oak forests: assessment of the effects of natural environmental factors and human influences. Environmental Pollution 158, 812819.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whittaker, RH (1972) Evolution and measurements of species diversity. Taxon 21, 213251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woods, CL (2017) Primary ecological succession in vascular epiphytes: the species accumulation model. Biotropica 49, 452460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

References

Callesen, I (2003) Transfer functions for carbon sequestration, nitrogen retention and nutrient release capability in forest soils based on soil texture classification. Ph.D. thesis, Forest & Landscape, University of Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Callesen, I, Nilsson, LO, Schmidt, IK, Vesterdal, L, Ambus, P, Christensen, JR, Högberg, P and Gundersen, P (2013) The natural abundance of 15N in litter and soil profiles under six temperate tree species: N cycling depends on tree species traits and site fertility. Plant and Soil 368, 375392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar