Patterns of Community Structure and Morphology of Bryophytes and Lichens Relative to Edaphic Gradients in the Subarctic Forest-Tundra of Northwestern Canada

Robinson, Anne L.; Vitt, Dale H.; Timoney, Kevin P.

doi:10.2307/3243674

Cited by 37 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Bryophytes in general are poikilohydric, i.e., they are unable to control their water potential (Nakatsubo, 1997). This is an effective mechanism to tolerate desiccation, but metabolism (photosynthesis, growth) can only occur when water is available and the plant is hydrated (Proctor, 2000;Robinson et al, 1989). Several studies have shown that atmospheric water availability is more important to bryophytes than the moisture level of the soil because bryophytes absorb water with their entire above-ground surface (Graf and Rochefort, 2010;Klepper, 1963).…”

Section: The Importance Of Soil Moisturementioning

confidence: 98%

Drivers of bryophyte diversity allow implications for forest management with a focus on climate change

Raabe¹,

Müller

Manthey

et al. 2010

Forest Ecology and Management

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Section: The Importance Of Soil Moisturementioning

confidence: 98%

Drivers of bryophyte diversity allow implications for forest management with a focus on climate change

Raabe¹,

Müller

Manthey

et al. 2010

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…Besides the effect of trees and total cover of lower layers, the pH and thickness of the decay horizon, or nanotopography could be important in the formation of the richness and spatial pattern of ground and field layer species. Although Cox and Larson (1993) have argued that, due to the narrow range of changes within a habitat, pH does not have a significant effect on the vegetation composition on a community level, many authors have considered soil reaction to be one of the most important ecological factor influencing the distribution of vascular and bryophyte species (Robinson et al 1989, Pärtel 2000, Virtanen et al 2000. Our results show that the pH of the decay horizon at the decimeter scale has a significant effect on the bryophyte species richness: higher pH increases the species number.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and distribution pattern of bryophytes and vascular plants in a boreal spruce forest

Vellak¹,

Paal²,

Liira³

2003

Silva Fenn.

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Small scale pattern of bryophyte communities is one of the remarkable sources of diversity in species-poor boreal forests. By means of correlation and general linear model approaches, the relationships between bryophyte vegetation and upper layers, as well as the response of ground and field layer species to several environmental factors, was analyzed in a boreal spruce forest in South-East Estonia. Of the studied factors, the strongest influence on the diversity and spatial distribution of ground and field layer species was found for ʻdistance from nearest treeʼ. Species from different layers react differently to the proximity of trees. Species richness of bryophytes is higher further from trees, whereas more vascular plant species prefer to grow in the vicinity of tree trunks. For bryophyte species richness, the pH of the decay horizon is also important; fewer bryophyte species occur in more acid conditions.

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“…Although the winter forage consists almost exclusively of lichens, caribou may choose from species differing in morphological structure, growing location, patch size, nutritional content, and abundance (e.g., Ahti 1964;Moser et al 1979;Carroll and Bliss 1982;Robinson et al 1989;Ahti and Oksanen 1990). At a somewhat larger scale, animals choose sites at which to forage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging across a variable landscape: behavioral decisions made by woodland caribou at multiple spatial scales

2001

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We examined the foraging behavior of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) relative to the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of their environment. We assessed (1) whether caribou altered their behavior over time while making trade-offs between forage abundance and accessibility; and (2) whether foraging decisions were consistent across spatial scales (i.e., as scale increased, similar decision criteria were used at each scale). We discuss whether caribou adjusted their behavior to take advantage of changing forage availability through time and space. At the scale of the feeding site (as revealed by discriminant function analyses), caribou in both forested and alpine (above tree-line) environments selected sites where the biomass of particular lichen species was greatest and snow the least deep. Caribou did not select those species with the highest nutritional value (i.e., digestible protein and energy) in either area. Where snow depth, density, and hardness limited access to terrestrial lichens in the forest, caribou foraged instead at those trees with the greatest amount of arboreal lichen. Selection of lichen species and the influence of snow differed across time, indicating that in this system the abundance or accessibility of forage temporally influenced foraging behavior. A path analysis of forest data and multiple regression analysis of alpine data were used to test the hypothesis that variables important at the scale of the feeding site explained foraging effort at the scale of the patch. For forest patches, our hypothesized model reliably explained foraging effort, but not all variables that were statistically important at the scale of the feeding site were significant predictors at the scale of the patch. For alpine patches, our hypothesized model did not explain a statistically significant portion of the variation in the number of feeding sites within the patch, and none of the individual variables from the feeding site remained statistically significant at the patch scale. The incongruity between those variables important at the scale of the feeding site and those important at the patch showed that spatial scale affects the foraging decisions of woodland caribou. At the scale of the landscape, there was a trade-off between forage abundance and accessibility. Relative to the alpine environment, caribou in the forest foraged at feeding sites and patches with greater amounts of less variably distributed lichen, but deeper less variable snow depths. Considering the behavioral plasticity of woodland caribou, there may be no distinct advantage to foraging in one landscape over the other.

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Patterns of Community Structure and Morphology of Bryophytes and Lichens Relative to Edaphic Gradients in the Subarctic Forest-Tundra of Northwestern Canada

Cited by 37 publications

References 23 publications

Drivers of bryophyte diversity allow implications for forest management with a focus on climate change

Drivers of bryophyte diversity allow implications for forest management with a focus on climate change

Diversity and distribution pattern of bryophytes and vascular plants in a boreal spruce forest

Foraging across a variable landscape: behavioral decisions made by woodland caribou at multiple spatial scales

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