Diversity and succession of epiphytic macrolichen communities in low‐elevation managed conifer forests in Western Oregon

Abstract

Abstract. We examined epiphytic macrolichen communities in Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas‐fir) forests across the western Oregon landscape for relationships to environmental gradients, stand age and structure, and commercial thinning. We used a retrospective, blocked design through the Coast and the western Cascade ranges of Oregon. Each of our 17 blocks consisted of a young, unthinned stand (age 50–110 yr); an adjacent, thinned stand of equivalent age; and an old‐growth stand (age > 200 yr). We found 110 epiphytic macrolichen taxa in the stands. Forage‐providing alectorioid lichens and the nitrogen‐fixing cyanolichen Lobaria oregana associated strongly with old‐growth stands and remnant old trees in younger stands (unthinned + thinned). Relative to unthinned stands, thinned stands had a slightly higher abundance of alectorioid lichens and a greater presence of Hypogymnia imshaugii. However, thinned stands hosted a lower landscape‐level (γ) diversity, lacking many species that occurred infrequently in the unthinned stands. Patterns in the lichen community composition correlated strongly with climatic gradients; the greatest variation in composition was between the Coast and Cascade ranges. The difference in communities between mountain ranges was greatest among stands 70–110 yr old, suggesting a difference in lichen successional dynamics between the ranges.

Evaluation of lichen species resistance to atmospheric metal pollution by coupling diversity and bioaccumulation approaches: A new bioindication scale for French forested areas

“…The number of lichen species was in the same range as those observed in other European forests: e.g., in Italy (Giordani, 2007), Slovenia (Poličnik et al, 2008), or Portugal (Pinho et al, 2004); the Shannon index, however, showed higher values compared to other European and North American forested sites (Mulligan, 2009;Peterson and McCune, 2001). But, this range was higher than in boreal environments (Kuusinen, 1996), probably in relation to specific climate conditions in cold regions.…”

Effects of extending rotation period on plant species diversity in Larix kaempferi plantations in central Japan

“…However, data are still lacking on which to base the management of both biological conservation and timber production in plantations. Some researchers have recommended long-rotation plantations as one source of such data [12,19,36,37,41]. Long-rotation plantations have been found to maintain and restore species diversity and stand structure, important factors for wildlife and plant habitat, to a greater extent than standard-rotation plantations [7,14,19,27].…”

L’ancienneté n’est pas un déterminant majeur de la biodiversité des forêts de montagne

“…En revanche, la maturité n'influence pas la diversité des macrolichens épiphytes. Ce groupe d'espèces àc roissance lente est pourtant bien connu pour sa dépendance aux très gros arbres (Peterson et McCune, 2001). Cette absence d'effet de la maturité sur les macrolichens épiphytes est sans doute liée àl ag estion par coupe sélectivep ratiquée en forêts de montagne, qui permet àl 'échelle du peuplement le maintien d'une «bonne »q ualité d'habitat globale.…”