Effects of forest continuity and tree age on epiphytic lichen biota in coniferous forests in Estonia

Marmor, Liis; Tõrra, Tiiu; Saag, Lauri; Randlane, Tiina

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.01.009

Cited by 53 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…This result underlines the importance of silvicultural methods which ensure temporal forest continuity for many lichen species. This is line with several other studies pointing out the importance of stand continuity to preserve lichen species richness and communities with rare or threatened lichen species [13], [22], [31]–[34]. Alternatively, patches of old trees could be retained in forests to conserve lichen species richness in managed stands.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Richness of Lichen Species, Especially of Threatened Ones, Is Promoted by Management Methods Furthering Stand Continuity

et al. 2013

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Lichens are a key component of forest biodiversity. However, a comprehensive study analyzing lichen species richness in relation to several management types, extending over different regions and forest stages and including information on site conditions is missing for temperate European forests. In three German regions (Schwäbische Alb, Hainich-Dün, Schorfheide-Chorin), the so-called Biodiversity Exploratories, we studied lichen species richness in 631 forest plots of 400 m2 comprising different management types (unmanaged, selection cutting, deciduous and coniferous age-class forests resulting from clear cutting or shelterwood logging), various stand ages, and site conditions, typical for large parts of temperate Europe. We analyzed how lichen species richness responds to management and habitat variables (standing biomass, cover of deadwood, cover of rocks). We found strong regional differences with highest lichen species richness in the Schwäbische Alb, probably driven by regional differences in former air pollution, and in precipitation and habitat variables. Overall, unmanaged forests harbored 22% more threatened lichen species than managed age-class forests. In general, total, corticolous, and threatened lichen species richness did not differ among management types of deciduous forests. However, in the Schwäbische-Alb region, deciduous forests had 61% more lichen species than coniferous forests and they had 279% more threatened and 76% more corticolous lichen species. Old deciduous age classes were richer in corticolous lichen species than young ones, while old coniferous age-classes were poorer than young ones. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of stand continuity for conservation. To increase total and threatened lichen species richness we suggest (1) conserving unmanaged forests, (2) promoting silvicultural methods assuring stand continuity, (3) conserving old trees in managed forests, (4) promoting stands of native deciduous tree species instead of coniferous plantations, and (5) increasing the amount of deadwood in forests.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Richness of Lichen Species, Especially of Threatened Ones, Is Promoted by Management Methods Furthering Stand Continuity

et al. 2013

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“…The amount of Bukhansan is very close to the city center, it exhibited a relatively higher level of species richness. If lichens are more abundant in old-growth forest than in young forests, and in continuous rather than in fragmented forests (Marmor et al 2011), we believe that Bukhansan, which is a national park, may provide sufficient habitat for a number of lichens. In contrast, lichen species richness in Gwanaksan was quite low in this study, which agreed with previous studies (Kim andLee 1975, Lee et al 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epiphytic macrolichens in Seoul: 35 years after the first lichen study in Korea

Ahn¹,

Chang²,

Kang³

2011

J. Ecol. Environ.

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Many lichens have been used as bioindicators for air pollutants such as SO 2 . The first ecological study on lichens in Korea was conducted in 1975 by Kim and Lee, disclosing that areas adjacent to the center of Seoul were lichen deserts. Air quality in Seoul has improved significantly since the 1980s. However, the distribution of lichen species has not been reevaluated since then. We examined the spatial and temporal pattern of lichen distribution by selecting six (inner city green [ICG] and four (outer city green [OCG]) sites, based on the distance from the city center of Seoul and the land use pattern. The change in lichen distribution was related to yearly mean concentrations of SO 2 , NO 2 , and O 3 for the years 1980-2009. Four and 13 lichen species were found in ICGs and OCGs, respectively. Although mean sample numbers per species were much higher in the former, species richness tended to increase with distance from the city center. Since 1980, SO 2 has declined drastically to < 0.01 ppm in both ICGs and OCGs, indicating that SO 2 is no longer a limiting factor for lichen establishment and growth. In contrast, NO 2 has increased steadily for 20 years ) and a considerable proportion of lichen species in both ICGs and OCGs are known as nitrophilic or pollution-tolerant species. Appearance of nitrophiles in both ICGs and OCGs and the dominance of a few lichen species in ICGs may reflect the effects of the increase in NO 2 . In contrast to SO 2 and NO 2 , O 3 was higher in OCGs, but it was difficult to identify a causal relationship between O 3 and lichen distribution.

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“…First, several case studies demonstrate that some calicioid species are most abundant in the oldest stands, interpreting this as their old-growth dependency (Holien 1998) and indicator value for stand continuity (Tibell 1992) or age (Kuusinen and Siitonen 1998). One problem with these studies is that they only compare mature and old stands (Tibell 1992, Selva 1994, Kuusinen and Siitonen 1998, Marmor et al 2011 or only have limited data from earlier successional phases (Holien 1998). Clearly, it is premature to establish old-forest dependency without knowing whether the species could also inhabit structural legacies after stand-replacing disturbances and timber harvesting, or trees in semi-natural communities.…”

Section: Critical Assessment Of Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was unexpected because, despite slightly lower tree densities, OG contained many more old and large trees . Furthermore, the importance of such trees for lichens emerges from studies separating the effects of tree age from stand age (Boudreault et al 2000, Fritz et al 2009, Marmor et al 2011. The dry rough bark of old trees specifically provides habitat for many calicioids (notably the Calicion hyperelli association; James et al 1977).…”

Section: Minor Roles Of Habitat Continuity and Microclimatementioning

confidence: 99%

Old-forest species: the importance of specific substrata vs. stand continuity in the case of calicioid fungi

Lõhmus¹,

Lõhmus²

2011

Silva Fenn.

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Appropriate conservation management of old-forest species depends on the causes of their oldforest affinity, which, however, are insufficiently known. Calicioid fungi are often considered old-forest dependent because of their special requirements for microhabitat, microclimate, and stand continuity for at least two tree generations. We demonstrate that, for several methodological or interpretational problems, published studies do not provide unequivocal evidence for such mechanisms and even for old-forest dependency of calicioids in general. We then analyse a large Estonian dataset (ca. 2300 records of 32 species) representing various management types and site types to answer whether old forests have more calicioid species, and any specific species, than could be expected for the substratum availability observed. Although old growth had more species and records than mature managed stands or cutover sites, those substratum types that occurred at roughly similar abundances also hosted comparable numbers of species in different management types. The characteristic substrata adding extra species to old growth were snags and root-plates of treefall mounds; wood surfaces in general comprised more than half of all calicioid records. Although substratum abundance did not fully explain the species-richness contrast between old growth and mature stands, additional evidence suggested that the unexplained variance is rather due to small-scale habitat characteristics than stand-scale continuity or microclimate. Finally, we review the evidence for old-forest affinity of calicioid species and distinguish a set of threatened species. We conclude that the availability of specific substrata is the main limiting factor for calicioid fungi in forests, and its quantitative and stochastic nature explains the large random and region-specific variation in the published lists of 'old-forest species'.

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Effects of forest continuity and tree age on epiphytic lichen biota in coniferous forests in Estonia

Cited by 53 publications

References 27 publications

Richness of Lichen Species, Especially of Threatened Ones, Is Promoted by Management Methods Furthering Stand Continuity

Richness of Lichen Species, Especially of Threatened Ones, Is Promoted by Management Methods Furthering Stand Continuity

Epiphytic macrolichens in Seoul: 35 years after the first lichen study in Korea

Old-forest species: the importance of specific substrata vs. stand continuity in the case of calicioid fungi

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