Dispersal ecology of the endangered woodland lichen Lobaria pulmonaria in managed hemiboreal forest landscape

Abstract

Changes in the forest management practices have strongly influenced the distribution of species inhabiting old-growth forests. The epiphytic woodland lichen Lobaria pulmonaria is frequently used as a model species to study the factors affecting the population biology of lichens. We sampled 252 L. pulmonaria individuals from 12 populations representing three woodland types differing in their ecological continuity and management intensity in Estonia. We used eight mycobiont-specific microsatellite loci to quantify genetic diversity among the populations. We calculated the Sørensen distance to estimate genetic dissimilarity among individuals within populations. We revealed that L. pulmonaria populations have significantly higher genetic diversity in old-growth forests than in managed forests and wooded meadows. We detected a significant woodland-typespecific pattern of genetic dissimilarity among neighbouring L. pulmonaria individuals, which suggests that in wooded meadows and managed forests dominating is vegetative reproduction. The vegetative dispersal distance between the host trees of L. pulmonaria was found to be only 15-30 m. Genetic dissimilarity among individuals was also dependent on tree species and trunk diameter. Lobaria pulmonaria populations in managed forests included less juveniles compared to old-growth forests and wooded meadows, indicating that forest management influences life stage structure within populations. We conclude that as intensive stand management reduces the genetic diversity of threatened species in woodland habitats, particular attention should be paid to the preservation of remnant populations in old-growth habitats. Within managed habitats, conservation management should target on maintenance of the stand's structural diversity and availability of potential host trees.

Microclimatic differentiation of gene pools in theLobaria pulmonariasymbiosis in a primeval forest landscape

“…; Jüriado et al . ), where trees frequently persist for centuries. Occupying a wide range in the Holarctic across temperate and boreal zones (Yoshimura ), L. pulmonaria is threatened in many European countries (Scheidegger & Werth ).…”

Hitchhiking with forests: population genetics of the epiphytic lichenLobaria pulmonariain primeval and managed forests in southeasternEurope

“…; Scheidegger and Werth ; Jüriado et al. ) are known effects of forest management that can lead to the decline of L. pulmonaria . Continuing multifunctional forest management in wooded pastures maintained a L. pulmonaria population with a relatively high abundance, although with a reduced genetic diversity compared with old‐growth forests (Jüriado et al.…”

The population structure of the lichen Lobaria pulmonaria in the middle boreal forests depends on the time-since-disturbance

“…tremula (living) 3 (10) 5 (16) 13 (60) 15 (65) 4 (30) 4 (34) 7 (70) P. tremula (standing dead) --4 (11) 2 (7) 4 (88) 3 (34) 4 (32) (Jüriado et al, 2011). According to numerous reports, L. pulmonaria most often colonizes the trunks of large deciduous trees with a rough bark (Gu et al, 2001;Jüriado et al, 2011Jüriado et al, , 2012Brunialti et al, 2015), which might be considered as a limiting factor in the distribution of this species.…”

“…Studies of Lobaria pulmonaria in the hemiboreal forests of Estonia revealed that in managed forests the proportion of generative individuals in the population was significantly higher in comparison with old-growth communities (the age of the dominant trees was 120-190 years) and wooded meadows (Jüriado et al, 2011). However, based on molecular genetic analysis, it has been established that the high levels of genetic diversity of L. pulmonaria are within undisturbed forest communities (Jüriado et al, 2011;Scheidegger et al, 2012).…”