Novel climates reverse carbon uptake of atmospherically dependent epiphytes: Climatic constraints on the iconic boreal forest lichen <i>Evernia mesomorpha</i>

Smith, Robert J.; Nelson, Peter R.; Jovan, Sarah; Hanson, Paul J.; McCune, Bruce

doi:10.1002/ajb2.1022

Cited by 19 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Moving forward, bioclimatic analyses look likely to be increasingly informed by field-scale experiments, linking the lichen physiological response to climate change, with population dynamics [204], providing data for mechanistic models that use this functional climate response to couple population and habitat dynamics [205]. Nevertheless, it needs to be considered that climate change effects on lichen populations and/or distributions could ultimately be outweighed by climate impacts that result in overwhelming landscape transformation [43].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change, Bioclimatic Models and the Risk to Lichen Diversity

Ellis

2019

Diversity

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This paper provides an overview of bioclimatic models applied to lichen species, supporting their potential use in this context as indicators of climate change risk. First, it provides a brief summary of climate change risk, pointing to the relevance of lichens as a topic area. Second, it reviews the past use of lichen bioclimatic models, applied for a range of purposes with respect to baseline climate, and the application of data sources, statistical methods, model extents and resolution and choice of predictor variables. Third, it explores additional challenges to the use of lichen bioclimatic models, including: 1. The assumption of climatically controlled lichen distributions, 2. The projection to climate change scenarios, and 3. The issue of nonanalogue climates and model transferability. Fourth, the paper provides a reminder that bioclimatic models estimate change in the extent or range of a species suitable climate space, and that an outcome will be determined by vulnerability responses, including potential for migration, adaptation, and acclimation, within the context of landscape habitat quality. The degree of exposure to climate change, estimated using bioclimatic models, can help to inform an understanding of whether vulnerability responses are sufficient for species resilience. Fifth, the paper draws conclusions based on its overview, highlighting the relevance of bioclimatic models to conservation, support received from observational data, and pointing the way towards mechanistic approaches that align with field-scale climate change experiments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change, Bioclimatic Models and the Risk to Lichen Diversity

Ellis

2019

Diversity

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“…Reductions in the distribution range of epiphytic lichens already occur in Southern Europe, for instance (Nascimbene et al, 2016). Furthermore, experiments suggest that tropical epiphytic bryophytes may suffer from prolonged drought periods (Metcalfe and Ahlstrand, 2019), same as cold-adapted epiphytic lichens in boreal regions (Smith et al, 2018). Also statistical modeling approaches, such as species distribution models, predict that NV epiphytes will be often negatively affected by climate change (Ellis et al, 2007;Rubio-Salcedo et al, 2017;Ellis and Eaton, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bark Water Storage Plays Key Role for Growth of Mediterranean Epiphytic Lichens

Porada

Giordani

2021

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Epiphytic lichens are a characteristic feature of many forests around the world, where they often cover large areas on stems and branches. Recently, it has been found that lichens may contribute substantially to carbon and nutrient uptake in forests. Moreover, they have a large influence on interception of rainfall at the global scale, which leads to a shift of the water balance toward evaporation and a cooling of near-surface air temperature. It is thus crucial to understand which environmental factors are relevant for their growth and survival, and which potential risks may result from climate change. Water supply is a key factor which controls active time and, consequently, the carbon balance of the epiphytes. However, it is largely unclear, to what extent different modes of water uptake, which include bark water, may affect active time and growth under varying environmental conditions. Quantitative estimates on the relevance of bark water storage and its interspecific variation are, however, missing. Here, we apply the process-based, dynamic non-vascular vegetation model LiBry to assess the relevance of bark water for epiphytic lichens. LiBry not only accounts for the main physiological processes of mosses and lichens, it also represents explicitly the diversity of the organisms, by simulating a large number of possible physiological strategies. We run the model for a site in Sardinia, where epiphytic lichens are abundant. Moreover, the Mediterranean region is of interest due to likely substantial effects of global warming on local epiphytes. For current climatic conditions, the LiBry model predicts net primary production (NPP) of 32 g C m−2a−1 per stem area and biomass of 48 g C m−2 for the study region. In a second run, where uptake of bark water is switched off in the model, estimated NPP is reduced by 21%. Moreover, the simulated number of surviving strategies, representing physiological diversity, decreases by 23%. This is accompanied by changes in the simulated community composition, where strategies which have a more compact thallus increase their share on the total cover. Hence, our model simulation suggests a substantial role of bark water for growth and morphology of epiphytic lichens in Sardinia.

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“…2015) and epiphytes (Smith et al . 2018). Co-occurring lichen communities on different substrates (terrestrial vs epiphytic) might be congruent if they share the same climatic niche tolerances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lack of congruence between terrestrial and epiphytic lichen strata in boreal forests

Smith

Jovan²,

Will‐Wolf³

2021

The Lichenologist

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Lichens occupy diverse substrates across tremendous ranges of environmental variation. In boreal forests, lichen communities co-occur in ‘strata’ defined by terrestrial or arboreal substrates, but these strata may or may not be interchangeable as bioindicators. Do co-occurring lichen strata have similar community structures and environmental responses? Could one stratum serve as a proxy for the other? We assessed variation in species richness and community compositions between ground-layer versus epiphyte-layer lichen strata in boreal forests and peatlands of interior Alaska. Species richness was lower and more spatially structured in the ground layer than the epiphyte layer. Richness of strata was not correlated. The most compositionally unique ground-layer communities were species-poor but contained regionally rare species not common in other plots. Variation in community compositions (ordination scores) were not congruent between strata (Procrustes congruence < 0.16 on 0–1 scale); the largest departures from congruence occurred where ground layers were species-poor. The best predictors of ground-layer community compositions were hydrological and topographic, whereas epiphytes were most associated with macroclimate and tree abundances. We conclude that lichens on different substrates ‘move in different circles’: compositional gradients did not agree and the environmental gradients most important to each lichen stratum were not the same. The conditions which strongly influence one vegetation stratum may have little bearing upon another. As global changes modify habitats, an incremental change in environment may lead community trajectories to diverge among lichen strata.

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Novel climates reverse carbon uptake of atmospherically dependent epiphytes: Climatic constraints on the iconic boreal forest lichen Evernia mesomorpha

Cited by 19 publications

References 47 publications

Climate Change, Bioclimatic Models and the Risk to Lichen Diversity

Climate Change, Bioclimatic Models and the Risk to Lichen Diversity

Bark Water Storage Plays Key Role for Growth of Mediterranean Epiphytic Lichens

Lack of congruence between terrestrial and epiphytic lichen strata in boreal forests

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