An Analysis of the Effects of Strip-Mining Disturbance on Bryophyte Species Diversity

Engelmann, Margaret H.; Weaks, T. E.

doi:10.2307/3242670

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Bryophytes dominate early succession in many ecosystems, particularly after massive disturbance (e.g. Frolik 1941;Engelmann & Weaks 1985;Nadkarni 2000). Remarkably, in our study epiphytic bryophytes were more sensitive to disturbance than fl owering plants.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Diversity of dry forest epiphytes across a gradient of human disturbance in the tropical Andes

2008

JVS

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Question: Disturbance effects on dry forest epiphytes are poorly known. How are epiphytic assemblages affected by different degrees of human disturbance, and what are the driving forces? Location: An inter-Andean dry forest landscape at 2300 m elevation in northern Ecuador. Methods: We sampled epiphytic bryophytes and vascular plants on 100 trees of Acacia macracantha in fi ve habitats: closedcanopy mixed and pure acacia forest (old secondary), forest edge, young semi-closed secondary woodland, and isolated trees in grassland. Results: Total species richness in forest edge habitats and on isolated trees was signifi cantly lower than in closed forest types. Species density of vascular epiphytes (species per tree) did not differ signifi cantly between habitat types. Species density of bryophytes, in contrast, was signifi cantly lower in edge habitat and on isolated trees than in closed forest. Forest edge showed greater impoverishment than semi-closed woodland and similar fl oristic affi nity to isolated trees and to closed forest types. Assemblages were signifi cantly nested; habitat types with major disturbance held only subsets of the closed forest assemblages, indicating a gradual reduction in niche availability. Distance to forest had no effect on species density of epiphytes on isolated trees, but species density was closely correlated with crown closure, a measure of canopy integrity. Main conclusions: Microclimatic changes but not dispersal constraints were key determinants of epiphyte assemblages following disturbance. Epiphytic cryptogams are sensitive indicators of microclimate and human disturbance in montane dry forests. The substantial impoverishment of edge habitat underlines the need for fragmentation studies on epiphytes elsewhere in the Tropics.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Diversity of dry forest epiphytes across a gradient of human disturbance in the tropical Andes

2008

JVS

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“…Bryophytes dominate early succession in many ecosystems, particularly after massive disturbance (e.g. Frolik 1941; Engelmann & Weaks 1985; Nadkarni 2000). Remarkably, in our study epiphytic bryophytes were more sensitive to disturbance than flowering plants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of dry forest epiphytes along a gradient of human disturbance in the tropical Andes

Werner

Gradstein

2009

J Vegetation Science

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Question: Disturbance effects on dry forest epiphytes are poorly known. How are epiphytic assemblages affected by different degrees of human disturbance, and what are the driving forces? Location: An inter‐Andean dry forest landscape at 2300 m elevation in northern Ecuador. Methods: We sampled epiphytic bryophytes and vascular plants on 100 trees of Acacia macracantha in five habitats: closed‐canopy mixed and pure acacia forest (old secondary), forest edge, young semi‐closed secondary woodland, and isolated trees in grassland. Results: Total species richness in forest edge habitats and on isolated trees was significantly lower than in closed forest types. Species density of vascular epiphytes (species per tree) did not differ significantly between habitat types. Species density of bryophytes, in contrast, was significantly lower in edge habitat and on isolated trees than in closed forest. Forest edge showed greater impoverishment than semi‐closed woodland and similar floristic affinity to isolated trees and to closed forest types. Assemblages were significantly nested; habitat types with major disturbance held only subsets of the closed forest assemblages, indicating a gradual reduction in niche availability. Distance to forest had no effect on species density of epiphytes on isolated trees, but species density was closely correlated with crown closure, a measure of canopy integrity. Main conclusions: Microclimatic changes but not dispersal constraints were key determinants of epiphyte assemblages following disturbance. Epiphytic cryptogams are sensitive indicators of microclimate and human disturbance in montane dry forests. The substantial impoverishment of edge habitat underlines the need for fragmentation studies on epiphytes elsewhere in the Tropics.

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“…Gustafsson and Hallingbäck 1988;Király et al 2013;Wierzcholska et al 2018) and post-industrial areas (e.g. Engelmann and Weaks 1985;Jagodziński et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of alien tree species on the abundance and diversity of terricolous bryophytes

Dyderski

Jagodziński

2020

Folia Geobot

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Bryophytes comprise an important element of temperate forest biodiversity and functioning. Although numerous studies reported impacts of alien tree species on understorey vegetation, few focused on impacts on bryophytes. Here we checked whether three invasive tree species in Europe (Prunus serotina Ehrh., Quercus rubra L. and Robinia pseudoacacia L.) influence terricolous bryophyte communities, alpha and beta diversity, and cover. We used a set of 186 study plots in western Poland with data on the cover of bryophytes species, as well as light availability, soil C:N ratio and pH. We found that light availability was the main driver of bryophyte species richness, cover and composition. Poor Pinus sylvestris L. forests invaded by P. serotina hosted more species and higher species richness than non-invaded P. sylvestris forests, while forests invaded by Q. rubra and R. pseudoacacia hosted fewer species than native forest types. Low differences among forest types studied resulted from small pools of species and the presence of generalist species. Fagus sylvatica L. forest, Q. rubra and R. pseudoacacia forests hosted the smallest number of species, while the most species rich stands were poor P. sylvestris forest invaded by P. serotina and non-invaded P. sylvestris forests. We concluded that light limitation by invasive species might be more important than dominant tree species identity in limiting terricolous bryophyte species richness and abundance. This requires further studies, accounting for varied abundances of invasive tree species. Therefore, the conservation of sites with high terricolous bryophyte biodiversity needs to be focused on canopy cover.

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An Analysis of the Effects of Strip-Mining Disturbance on Bryophyte Species Diversity

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

Diversity of dry forest epiphytes across a gradient of human disturbance in the tropical Andes

Diversity of dry forest epiphytes across a gradient of human disturbance in the tropical Andes

Diversity of dry forest epiphytes along a gradient of human disturbance in the tropical Andes

Impacts of alien tree species on the abundance and diversity of terricolous bryophytes

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