Sampling and Interpreting Lichen Diversity Data for Biomonitoring Purposes

Giordani, Paolo; Brunialti, Giorgio

doi:10.1007/978-81-322-2181-4_2

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 154 publications

(133 reference statements)

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“…An improved scale by Hawksworth and Rose [3] allows the mean annual SO 2 level to be predicted from the lichens present using both species and morphology. The simple rule-the more a lichen stands out from the substrate (tree trunks), the less pollution-seems to hold well [4], although lichen communities can be influenced by other ecological factors, like tree species, forest structure, and microclimatic conditions [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antarctic Studies Show Lichens to be Excellent Biomonitors of Climate Change

2019

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Lichens have been used as biomonitors for multiple purposes. They are well-known as air pollution indicators around urban and industrial centers. More recently, several attempts have been made to use lichens as monitors of climate change especially in alpine and polar regions. In this paper, we review the value of saxicolous lichens for monitoring environmental changes in Antarctic regions. The pristine Antarctica offers a unique opportunity to study the effects of climate change along a latitudinal gradient that extends between 62° and 87° S. Both lichen species diversity and thallus growth rate seem to show significant correlations to mean annual temperature for gradients across the continent as well as to short time climate oscillation in the Antarctic Peninsula. Competition interactions appear to be small so that individual thalli develop in balance with environmental conditions and, as a result, can indicate the trends in productivity for discrete time intervals over long periods of time.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antarctic Studies Show Lichens to be Excellent Biomonitors of Climate Change

2019

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“…Among other biomonitoring methods, the Lichen Diversity Value (LDV) grounds on the assessment of any change in the frequency and abundance of all epiphytic lichen species [3][4][5]. Though it was originally developed for investigating the effects of phytotoxic gases, such as SO 2 and NO x [5][6][7][8], methods based on the assessment of lichen diversity have also been extensively applied for detecting the sustainability of forest management [9][10][11][12][13], estimating the impact of disturbances related to land use change [14][15][16], and monitoring local-and large-scale effects of climate change [17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Normally the first factor of variation (effects caused by disturbances) is the target of biomonitoring studies, while natural succession is often intrinsically taken into account by the assumption that natural variations can develop randomly throughout a study area. As far as the sampling error is concerned, it is often minimized by the maintenance of the same sampling units in long term studies [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These tests represent basic activities for the assessment of quality assurance [34]. As lichen biomonitoring is based on the identification of all epiphytic lichen species within a sampling grid, it requires very high levels of taxonomic knowledge [6,[29][30][31][32]35,36]. In this regard, it has been shown that the effect of the operator can sometimes be relevant, even when expert lichenologists are involved in the sampling procedure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Different Teams Produce Different Results in Long-Term Lichen Biomonitoring?

et al. 2019

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Lichen biomonitoring programs focus on temporal variations in epiphytic lichen communities in relation to the effects of atmospheric pollution. As repeated surveys are planned at medium to long term intervals, the alternation of different operators is often possible. This involves the need to consider the effect of non-sampling errors (e.g., observer errors). Here we relate the trends of lichen communities in repeated surveys with the contribution of different teams of specialists involved in sampling. For this reason, lichen diversity data collected in Italy within several ongoing biomonitoring programs have been considered. The variations of components of gamma diversity between the surveys have been related to the composition of the teams of operators. As a major result, the composition of the teams significantly affected data comparability: Similarity (S), Species Replacement (R), and Richness Difference (D) showed significant differences between “same” and “partially” versus “different” teams, with characteristics trends over time. The results suggest a more careful interpretation of temporal variations in biomonitoring studies.

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“…Information on the structure and dynamics of lichen populations is fundamental to improve conservation effectiveness (Scheidegger & Werth 2009;Ellis 2012;Spitale & Nascimbene 2012), environmental monitoring techniques (Armstrong & Bradwell 2010;Giordani & Brunialti 2015), and Cultural Heritage management (Gazzano et al 2009). Dispersal limitations and establishment constraints are addressed to explain the dynamics of lichen populations (Scheidegger & Werth 2009;Ellis 2012;Schei et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersal patterns of meiospores shape population spatial structure of saxicolous lichens

et al. 2017

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4 Laboratorio analisi scientifica, Direzione ricerca e progetti cofinanziati, Soprintendenza per i beni e le attività culturali, Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta -Piazza Narbonne 3, 11100, Aosta, Italy AbstractRelationships between reproductive strategies and population spatial structure have been often suggested for lichens, but still not supported with experimental aerobiological data. For the first time, this study couples aerobiological investigations on meiospore dispersal by Caloplaca crenulatella (Nyl.) H. Olivier and Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC. with the analysis of their local spatial patterns on the walls of a medieval castle in NW-Italy. During a two-year monitoring period carried out in the castle courtyard, a total of 169 polar diblastic spores, 20% of which were morphologically attributable to C. crenulatella, was detected in the mycoareosol, while muriform spores of R. geographicum were never found. Laboratory experiments confirmed that different dispersal patterns characterize the two species, the meiospores of R. geographicum being poorly discharged and only recovered at a short distance from the thalli, whereas those of C. crenulatella were more abundantly discharged, suspended and better dispersed by a moderate air flow. Such a difference was reflected on the castle walls by a random spatial pattern of C. crenulatella, while R. geographicum showed a clustered distribution. Different discharge rates and take-off limitations, possibly related to size differences between the spores, are not sufficient to explain the different colonization patterns and dynamics of the two species, and additional intrinsic and extrinsic factors likely drive the dispersal and establishment success. Nevertheless, information on the relationships between different dispersal patterns of the species and the local spatial structure of their populations may contribute to predict the recovery potential of lichen species exposed to habitat loss or disturbance, or encrusting monumental surfaces. Events of long-distance dispersal, favouring colonization of distant sites, followed by shortdistance dispersal, supporting a more local population expansion, were shown to explain the patchy lichen colonization in a former tree-less landscape (Gjerde et al. 2015). The productions of large asexual diaspores (isidia, soredia) and small sexually-generated meiospores are traditionally related to local and long distance dispersal, respectively (Hedenås et al. 2003;Leavitt & Lumbsch 2016). At the landscape scale, inferences from genetic population studies and spatial pattern analyses mostly supported this view, suggesting a tradeoff between a higher dispersal of meiospores, effective in landscapes with lower connectivity, and a higher establishment effectiveness of asexual diaspores in continuous landscapes (Ellis 2012). In-field measurements on diaspore dispersal generally showed short dispersal capabilities, but evidence on distributional ranges and phylogenetic studies suggested they are (2012) found a spatially structured pattern...

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Sampling and Interpreting Lichen Diversity Data for Biomonitoring Purposes

Cited by 21 publications

References 154 publications

Antarctic Studies Show Lichens to be Excellent Biomonitors of Climate Change

Antarctic Studies Show Lichens to be Excellent Biomonitors of Climate Change

Do Different Teams Produce Different Results in Long-Term Lichen Biomonitoring?

Dispersal patterns of meiospores shape population spatial structure of saxicolous lichens

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