When family matters: an analysis of Thelotremataceae (Lichenized Ascomycota: Ostropales) as bioindicators of ecological continuity in tropical forests

Abstract

We analysed patterns of habitat and microhabitat preferences of 19 families (comprising 135 genera and 950 species) of crustose, corticolous lichens in Costa Rica (Arthoniaceae, Arthopyreniaceae, Coenogoniaceae, Graphidaceae, Lecanoraceae, Letrouitiaceae, Monoblastiaceae, Pertusariaceae, Physciaceae, Pilocarpaceae, Porinaceae, Pyrenulaceae, Ramalinaceae, Roccellaceae, Strigulaceae, Teloschistaceae, Thelenellaceae, Thelotremataceae, Trypetheliaceae), in order to test whether Thelotremataceae are suitable predictors of undisturbed tropical rain forest and can be used as bioindicators of ecological continuity. The dataset consisted of 12,215 specimen samples and six environmental parameters recorded for each sample (altitude, degree of seasonality, vegetation type, disturbance level, substrate nature, light exposure), which were analysed by a multivariate approach using principal component analysis (PCA). The analysis showed that three of the 19 families, Letrouitiaceae, Porinaceae, and Thelotremataceae, showed significant preferences for undisturbed primary to old growth secondary forest, fully shaded to semiexposed microhabitats, and the bark of mature tree trunks, parameters assumed to be correlated with ecological continuity of closed rain forest habitats. Thelotremataceae had broader altitudinal range than Letrouitiaceae and Porinaceae and significantly higher genus and species diversity (16 genera, 130 species) compared to Porinaceae (4 genera, 40 species) and Letrouitiaceae (1 genus, 5 species). Our results support the hypothesis that Thelotremataceae perform best as predictors of undisturbed dry and lowland to montane

Journey from the West: Did tropical Graphidaceae (lichenized Ascomycota: Ostropales) evolve from a saxicolous ancestor along the American Pacific coast?

“…The family is essentially tropical, with the highest diversity found in tropical lowland to montane rain forest and only a few species extending into extratropical regions ( Wirth andHale, 1963 , 1978 ;Hale 1974Hale , 1981Rivas Plata et al, 2008 ;Sipman et al, 2012 ). While the family is predominantly epiphytic, a few lineages deviate by their unique ecology, particularly the genus Diploschistes , which is mainly found in subtropical and tropical montane regions on exposed soil and rock substrata and also has a photobiont different from most other Graphidaceae ( Lumbsch, 1989 ;Guderley and Lumbsch, 1996 ;Lumbsch, 2002 ;Lumbsch and Elix, 2003 ).…”

Vertical distribution of epiphytic bryophytes and lichens emphasizes the importance of old beeches in conservation

“…This is also often the case in surveys of epiphytic species with nature conservation applications, e.g. searching for indicators when trying to identify woodland key habitats (Nitare and Hallingbäck 2005) or assessing disturbance levels in tropical forests (Plata et al 2007). The question therefore arises of how representative such studies are when not taking into consideration the stem above 2 m height.…”

Burning Potential of Fire Refuges in the Boreal Mixedwood Forest

“…Therefore, to understand the general pattern of fire refuge occurrences in a given landscape, more investigations are needed locally to take into account the present day mosaic specificities and potential past changes as revealed by palaeoecological analyses. Hence, given the potential importance of fire refuges in the landscape (biodiversity hot spots [10,11]), they should be subjected to special conservation efforts.…”