Cryptogam Recolonization after Wildfire: Leaders and Laggards in Assemblages?

Wills, Allan; Cranfield, Raymond Jeffrey; Ward, B.; Tunsell, V.

doi:10.4996/fireecology.140165084

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Additionally, diseased or dead ash trees can still keep typical epiphytic lichens for some years, increasing the availability of their propagules and allowing them to spread. In such cases the persistence of lichen propagules in the environment increases the probability of their survival (Eaton et al 2017;Ronnås et al 2017;Wills et al, 2018). The extent and number of possible epiphytic lichen propagule sources within the landscape scale can prevent the species loss in the biota and facilitate their colonization on other microhabitats (Bouchard and Boudreault 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Fraxinus excelsior dieback on biota of ash-associated lichen epiphytes at the landscape and community level

et al. 2019

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The landscape-scale extinction of a tree species may have a negative impact on diversity of associated epiphytic species. We used ordination and hierarchical clustering methods to assess landscape and the community level effects of reduction in the abundance of European ash Fraxinus excelsior, caused by ash dieback, on the associated epiphytic lichen biota in Białowieża Forest (Poland)-the best preserved forest complex in Central Europe. At the landscape level ash decline impact on the biota of ash-associated epiphytic lichens was weak, due to the high diversity of tree species, which may serve as potential alternative hosts. At this level, oak and hornbeam are the most important alternative hosts, assuring the maintenance of ash-associated epiphytic lichens. Lime, alder, and hazel appeared to be less important but still may serve as substitute phorophytes to approximately 2/3 of the ash-associated lichen biota. About 90% of epiphytic biota are likely to survive on the landscape scale. However, at the community level of alder-ash floodplain forest, where ash was dominant, about 50% of ash-associated epiphytic lichen species are threatened by ash dieback. Our results highlight the importance of a spatial scale in conservation biology. Protection of large forest areas with rich diversity of phorophyte trees increases chances of survival of the associated epiphytic organisms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Fraxinus excelsior dieback on biota of ash-associated lichen epiphytes at the landscape and community level

et al. 2019

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“…Our analysis focused on discontinuities, composition, and loading of dead or cured understory fuels at distances of centimeters to meters, the scale hypothesized to be most relevant to our study system given the size of the focal organism. Observations from ecosystems characterized by standreplacing fire regimes have generally stressed the importance of unburned vegetation patches within much larger wildfire perimeters or outside of the burn area as potential sources for recolonization during relatively long firefree intervals (e.g., 50 to >100 yr; Maikawa and Kershaw 1976, Zouaoui et al 2014, Wills et al 2018. While postdisturbance dispersal from adjacent areas likely plays some role in Cladonia dynamics on inland dunes of the Delmarva Peninsula, it is unclear to what extent it may help explain their historical densities in the context of a frequent low-severity fire regime, assuming slow colonization and growth rates (e.g., Heinken 1999).…”

Section: Fire Refugiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Viewed broadly, the responses of this group to burning are highly variable, exhibiting negative, neutral, or positive responses depending on an array of interacting factors (see the extensive literature review available at Fire Effects Information System, FEIS, https://www.feis-crs.org/feis/). This range of responses has been attributed to differences in aspects of fire regimes including intensity and return interval (Johansson and Reich 2005;O'Bryan et al 2009;Zouaoui et al 2014;Wills et al 2018), selective effects of fire on competing vegetation and habitat structure (Hawkes and Menges 1996;O'Bryan et al 2009), and the existence of unburned patches or other refugia (Holt and Severns 2005;Johansson et al 2006;Ray et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Terricolous lichens in the genus Cladonia P. Browne are highly vulnerable to damage by fire due to their physical proximity to flames spreading through the understory fuel matrix that they inhabit (Yahr 2000;Wills et al 2018). Unlike other small-stature vegetation that may be top-killed by fire, Cladonia lack protected belowground structures that underlie this survival mechanism (Schulten 1985).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors influencing the persistence of reindeer lichens (Cladonia subgenus Cladina) within frequent-fire environments of the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, USA

2020

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Background: Prescribed fire is increasingly used to accomplish management goals in fire-adapted systems, yet our understanding of effects on non-target organisms remains underdeveloped. Terricolous lichens in the genus Cladonia P. Browne, particularly cushion-forming reindeer lichens belonging to Cladonia subgenus Cladina Nyl., fit into this category, being characteristic of fire-adapted ecosystems, yet highly vulnerable to damage or consumption during burns. Moreover, inherently slow dispersal and growth rates raise questions about how to conserve these taxa in the context of fire-mediated restoration management. This research was undertaken to identify factors that contribute to Cladonia persistence within areas subject to repeated burning and involved tracking the fate of 228 spatially isolated individuals distributed across seven sites previously burned zero to two times. Site selection was determined by edaphic factors associated with a rare inland dune woodland community type known to support relatively high densities of Cladonia. Results: Evaluated across all sites, the post-burn condition of Cladonia subtenuis (Abbayes) Mattick samples, categorized as intact (32%), fragmented (33%), or consumed (36%) individuals, approximated a uniform distribution. However, their status was highly variable at the different sites, where from 0 to 70% were assessed as intact and 11 to 60% consumed. Machine-learning statistical techniques were used to identify the factors most strongly associated with fire damage, drawing from variables describing the proximate fuel bed, growth substrate, and fire weather. The final descriptive model was dominated by variables characterizing the understory fuel matrix. Conclusions: Areas with highly contiguous fuels dominated by pyrogenic pine needles were most likely to result in consumption of individual Cladonia, whereas those growing in areas with low fuel continuity or in areas dominated by hardwood litter were more likely to persist (intact or as fragments). Further, substrates including bare soil and moss mats afforded more protection than coarse woody debris or leaf litter in settings where fuels were both contiguous and highly flammable. Our findings describe the characteristics of within-site fire refugia, the abundance of which may be enhanced over time through restoration and maintenance treatments including thinning, promotion of mixed-species overstory composition, and periodic burning. Because lichens contribute to, and are considered reliable indicators of forest health, fire-based restoration management efforts will benefit from improved understanding of how these vulnerable organisms are able to persist.

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“…The 66 islands highly varied in area size, together with variation in dispersal capacity among different bryophyte species, which were possibly another reason accounting for a high level of nestedness for bryophytes in the Zhoushan Archipelago [17]. Besides, although bryophytes have a long-distance dispersal capacity, such capacity would vary among different species and categories [25]. Because taxa with a comparatively higher level of nestedness had stronger dispersal ability [17], the variation in their dispersal capacity, coupled with a range of isolation degrees of islands, would result in different levels of nestedness.…”

Section: Nestedness Level Of Bryophyte Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying and interpreting nestedness of bryophytes in the Zhoushan Archipelago, China

Shen

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background: Detecting nestedness distribution and understanding their origin are important for biological conservation. Although previous studies on nestedness covered a wide range of taxa, discrepancies still exist on the prevalence of nestedness among biotas, and on the mechanisms to form nested distribution. Because bryophytes are poikilohydric, highly sensitive to habitats, and have a long-distance dispersal capacity, together with the fact that continental islands highly varied in area, elevation and habitat types, bryophytes on continental archipelago are thus an ideal system for the settlement of relevant disputes on nested distribution. However, few studies have been conducted on nestedness of bryophytes. To quantify nestedness level of different bryophyte categories on continental islands and possible mechanisms, we complied a presence/absence matrix of 446 species of bryophytes in 66 islands of the Zhoushan Archipelago, China. We also recorded spore sizes of 319 moss species based on available literature. By using the matrix temperature and the NODF metrics, as well as a conservative null model, we evaluated the nestedness levels of 18 bryophyte categories. We further explored possible mechanisms to form nested distribution by using partial Spearman rank correlations based on island area, elevation, habitat types and spore size of moss species. Results : We found that all 18 categories of bryophytes exhibited a high degree of nestedness. Nestedness level was higher for mosses than liverworts, higher for acrocarpous mosses than pleurocarpous mosses，and varied among different bryophyte 13 families. The nested distribution of bryophytes in the archipelago was not due to passive sampling, but mainly due to nested habitats and selective-extinction. Spore size might be a factor linked to selective-colonization accounting for nestedness of some moss categories. Conclusions : Nested habitats, selective-extinction, and partial selective-colonization resulted in a high level of nestedness for bryophytes in continental islands. Although the nestedness of bryophyte distribution in the Zhoushan Archipelago was statistically significant, such a nestedness was not perfect. Conservation of bryophytes should not only focus on the species-richest islands.

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Cryptogam Recolonization after Wildfire: Leaders and Laggards in Assemblages?

Abstract: Cryptogams (restricted here to mosses, liverworts, and lichens) have no particular fire-adapted survival strategies and rely on airborne spores or propagules

Cited by 13 publications

References 49 publications

Impact of Fraxinus excelsior dieback on biota of ash-associated lichen epiphytes at the landscape and community level

Impact of Fraxinus excelsior dieback on biota of ash-associated lichen epiphytes at the landscape and community level

Factors influencing the persistence of reindeer lichens (Cladonia subgenus Cladina) within frequent-fire environments of the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, USA

Quantifying and interpreting nestedness of bryophytes in the Zhoushan Archipelago, China

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