Nonvascular photoautotrophs (NVP), including bryophytes, lichens, terrestrial algae, and cyanobacteria, are increasingly recognized as being essential to ecosystem functioning in many regions of the world. Current research suggests that climate change may pose a substantial threat to NVP, but the extent to which this will affect the associated ecosystem functions and services is highly uncertain. Here, we propose a research agenda to address this urgent question, focusing on physiological and ecological processes that link NVP to ecosystem functions while also taking into account the substantial taxonomic diversity across multiple ecosystem types. Accordingly, we developed a new categorization scheme, based on microclimatic gradients, which simplifies the high physiological and morphological diversity of NVP and world-wide distribution with respect to several broad habitat types. We found that habitat-specific ecosystem functions of NVP will likely be substantially affected by climate change, and more quantitative process understanding is required on (1) potential for acclimation, (2) response to elevated CO 2 , (3) role of the microbiome, and (4) feedback to (micro)climate. We suggest an integrative approach of innovative, multimethod laboratory and field experiments and ecophysiological modelling, for which sustained scientific collaboration on NVP research will be essential.
Lichen-forming fungi and mosses form a major part of the terrestrial non-vascular vegetation and are thought to have a significant impact on global biogeochemical cycles, such as the nitrogen and carbon cycle. However, in order to draw quantitative conclusions about their ecosystem functions, it is essential to understand the metabolic processes underlying their growth. The dynamic water balance of lichens and mosses is a crucial factor in this regard since the metabolic processes of the organisms can only occur in phases with sufficient water saturation. Water can occur inside the cells (internal) in the symplast and in pores in the cell wall (apoplast water), and also externally in the capillaries of the intercellular space. It is poorly known, however, how atmospheric demand for water, related to water potential ( ψ ), affects the dynamic distribution of internal and external water in lichens and mosses and which consequences this may have for their water balance. Here, we examined water absorption of Pleurozium schreberi , Cladonia portentosa and Peltigera rufescens under a gradient of ψ in the laboratory. Results show that for all species, relative water content decreased with decreasing ψ. Both internal and external water contents thereby showed a consistent pattern across the range of ψ- values tested here. This indicates that, although a proportion of the internal water has already evaporated and therefore the turgor pressure is altered, in all three species a proportion of external water is retained by capillary forces even at low ψ .
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