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Responses of the distribution of four epiphytic cyanolichens to habitat changes in subtropical forests |
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| Authors: | LI Su;LIU Wen-Yao;SHI Xian-Meng;LIU Shuai;HU Tao;HUANG Jun-Biao;CHEN Xi;SONG Liang;WU Chuan-Sheng |
| Affiliation: | Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China Ailaoshan Station for Subtropical Forest Ecosystem Studies, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jingdong, Yunnan 676209, China |
| Abstract: | Aims Epiphytic cyanolichens are an important component of epiphytes and play a vital role in environmental monitoring and nutrient cycling in various forest ecosystems. The objectives of this study were to (1) quantify the coverage and frequency of epiphytic cyanolichens across forest types, (2) assess the importance of forest type and tree species on the distribution of cyanolichens, and (3) determine the influence of habitat variables on epiphytic cyanolichens at the scale of a forest landscape as well as within communities. Methods We investigated the coverage and frequency of four common cyanolichen species: Leioderma sorediatum, Leptogium azureum, Lobaria retigera, and Sticta duplolimbata, on 0–2.0 m trunk in 120 plots of two primary and six secondary forest types in the subtropical Ailao Mountains of Yunnan Province, Southwest China. Thirty trees in each plot and a total of 3 600 trees were selected for lichen sampling in the eight forests. Important findings Coverage and frequency of the four epiphytic cyanolichens differed significantly among forest types. While the highest values of S. duplolimbata occurred in the primary dwarf mossy forest, those of other three species occurred in the secondary Ternstroemia gymnanthera and Populus bonatii forests. However, they were relatively rare in the primary Lithocarpus forest. All the target cyanolichen species were found on more than ten host tree species, and showed clear preferences for some tree species such as T. gymnanthera, P. bonatii and Lithocarpus hancei while excluded from other tree species such as Camellia forrestii. The results also highlighted the importance of habitat variables such as stand age, tree diameter, maximum diameter, canopy openness, basal area, host stem density and tree species diversity on the distribution of epiphytic cyanolichens. The correlation coefficients between cyanolichens and habitat variables were generally very small at the forest landscape scale, whereas some of the correlations were strong within forest types. Of the habitat variables, stand age, canopy openness and tree diameter were the major factors determining the distribution of cyanolichens. |
| Keywords: | epiphytic lichen habitat variable forest type host species montane forest coverage Yunnan |
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