Factors Influencing Epiphytic Lichen Species Distribution in a Managed Mediterranean Pinus nigra Arnold Forest

Abstract

Lichens have important ecological functions in black pine forests, such as nitrogen fixation and nutrient cycling. Understanding lichen diversity could provide a better understanding of black pine ecosystems. The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting the composition of lichen communities and their specific diversity in Mediterranean black pine forests. Research was conducted in 48 sampling plots. For the analysis, presence–absence and frequency data of lichen species were used. For stand level analysis, four community composition tables were created. We used bioclimate, topography, stand, and parent rock as variables. A total of 33 epiphytic lichen species were identified in the black pine forests from 282 sampled trees. Indicator lichen species were determined according to geographic region and stand age classes. Hypocenomyce scalaris was found to be an indicator species for old forests. Frequency data were more useful for revealing lichen species composition than presence–absence data. Of the topographic variables, elevation was the most prominent and had the highest explanation ratio for the composition of lichen species with a coefficient of correlation (R2) value of 0.49. Significantly positive (p < 0.001) relationships were found between epiphytic lichen richness and tree crown height, tree height, and bark pH. Our results revealed that to retain the trees in the stands rich in lichen species diversity is recommended in the managed forests.

Marine fog inputs appear to increase methylmercury bioaccumulation in a coastal terrestrial food web

“…However, SA in the lichen MMHg concentrations is also a natural outcome of the study design due to the ocean-facing sites being more clustered in one region compared to the bay-facing sites, which were more spread out. In a previous study, a random selection of data at a 1 km spatial resolution was carried out to minimize SA 75 , but due to the small number of lichen sampling sites in this study, this was not possible.…”

Index of Atmospheric Purity reflects the ecological conditions better than the environmental pollution in the Carpathian forests

“…The important effect of light on the biodiversity and distribution of lichens in forests, which has been recently emphasized i.a. by Sales et al (2016), Sevgi et al (2019) and Vondrák et al (2019), showed up here in the similarity between spatial distributions of IAP values and L indicator values for 2013.…”

Diversity, composition and distribution of lichens along elevational gradients in the tropical mountain forest of Gunung Nuang, Selangor, Malaysia

“…Geographically, tropical forests are located in equatorial regions (Khamis & Nizam 2013). This gives the forests a unique structure which makes them suitable habitats for thousands of endemic bryophyte and lichen species (Sevgi et al 2019). The number of lichen species found in Gunung Nuang, Selangor (44 species) was significantly higher than that found for the montane forest at Gunung Machincang, Langkawi (33 species) (Zulkifly et al 2011).…”

“…Lichen species richness and composition were calculated and presented as percentages of the total number of samples, using a cluster bar chart. Next, an independent t-test was used to examine the difference in species composition between lower-and higher-frequency species (Sevgi et al 2019). Species diversity was analysed using the two most common diversity indices -the Shannon-Weiner Index and Simpson's Diversity Index.…”