The Influence of Environmental Factors on the Growth of Lichens in the Field

Armstrong, Richard A.

doi:10.1007/978-81-322-2181-4_1

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…This result is a consequence of these species having suffered, to some degree, a loss of larger thalli as a result of being covered by snow for longer periods. Snow kill appears to be an important process in Antarctica, as well as in alpine and arctic environments [38,39] and leads to rock surfaces being made available for new colonisation. The same process was suggested for the establishment of the crustose lichen Buellia frigida in the Dry Valleys, albeit at around 1000 and 4000 years ago [40].…”

Section: Short-term Growth Rate Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antarctic Studies Show Lichens to be Excellent Biomonitors of Climate Change

2019

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Lichens have been used as biomonitors for multiple purposes. They are well-known as air pollution indicators around urban and industrial centers. More recently, several attempts have been made to use lichens as monitors of climate change especially in alpine and polar regions. In this paper, we review the value of saxicolous lichens for monitoring environmental changes in Antarctic regions. The pristine Antarctica offers a unique opportunity to study the effects of climate change along a latitudinal gradient that extends between 62° and 87° S. Both lichen species diversity and thallus growth rate seem to show significant correlations to mean annual temperature for gradients across the continent as well as to short time climate oscillation in the Antarctic Peninsula. Competition interactions appear to be small so that individual thalli develop in balance with environmental conditions and, as a result, can indicate the trends in productivity for discrete time intervals over long periods of time.

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Section: Short-term Growth Rate Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antarctic Studies Show Lichens to be Excellent Biomonitors of Climate Change

2019

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“…A major source of growth rate variation in mature lichen thalli is differential environmental effects (Armstrong ). Understanding these effects on lichen growth is important in lichenometry for two reasons.…”

Section: Environmental Growth Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lichenometric dating (lichenometry) and the biology of the lichen genus rhizocarpon: challenges and future directions

Armstrong

2016

Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography

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Lichenometric dating (lichenometry) involves the use of lichen measurements to estimate the age of exposure of various substrata. Because of low radial growth rates and considerable longevity, species of the crustose lichen genus Rhizocarpon have been the most useful in lichenometry. The primary assumption of lichenometry is that colonization, growth and mortality of Rhizocarpon are similar on surfaces of known and unknown age so that the largest thalli present on the respective faces are of comparable age. This review describes the current state of knowledge regarding the biology of Rhizocarpon and considers two main questions: (1) to what extent does existing knowledge support this assumption; and (2) what further biological observations would be useful both to test its validity and to improve the accuracy of lichenometric dates? A review of the Rhizocarpon literature identified gaps in knowledge regarding early development, the growth rate/size curve, mortality, regeneration, competitive effects, colonization, and succession on rock surfaces. The data suggest that these processes may not be comparable on different rock surfaces, especially in regions where growth rates and thallus turnover are high. In addition, several variables could differ between rock surfaces and influence maximum thallus size, including rate and timing of colonization, radial growth rates, environmental differences, thallus fusion, allelopathy, thallus mortality, colonization and competition. Comparative measurements of these variables on surfaces of known and unknown age may help to determine whether the basic assumptions of lichenometry are valid. Ultimately, it may be possible to take these differences into account when interpreting estimated dates.

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“…Lichenometric dating has been used in geographic and geological sciences for about six decades (i.a. Beschel 1961, Armstrong 1976, 1978, 2002, 2015, Karlén 1973, Webber and Andrews 1973, Matthews 1974, Topham 1976, Armstrong and Smith 1987, Benedict 1991, Innes 1982, Bradwell 2009. However, some scientists question almost completely the lichenometric dating method (Osborn et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial colonisation by Rhizocarpon geographicum in the Tatra Mountains

Kędzia

2021

J. Mt. Sci.

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Previous lichenometric dating of young geomorphological forms in the Tatra Mountains has been hindered by differences in the determination of initial colonisation of fresh rock surfaces by the Rhizocarpon geographicum lichen. In order to determine precisely the time needed for the first thalli to appear on newly exposed rock surfaces, two experimental sites were created in 2013. The results from these sites were compared with the measurements taken on boulders in debris formed by a 2013 debris flow. In 2018, the largest thalli measured within the experimental sites and the debris flow area reached a size of approximately 2 mm. Based on this, the time of initial colonisation of rock surfaces was determined to be 5 ± 1 years, which is about half the period previously described in the literature.

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The Influence of Environmental Factors on the Growth of Lichens in the Field

Cited by 14 publications

References 77 publications

Antarctic Studies Show Lichens to be Excellent Biomonitors of Climate Change

Antarctic Studies Show Lichens to be Excellent Biomonitors of Climate Change

Lichenometric dating (lichenometry) and the biology of the lichen genus rhizocarpon: challenges and future directions

Initial colonisation by Rhizocarpon geographicum in the Tatra Mountains

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