Macrolichen diversity as an indicator of stand age and ecosystem resilience along a precipitation gradient in humid forests of inland British Columbia,Canada |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Atlantic Forestry Centre, P.O. Box 960, Corner Brook, NF, Canada A2H 6J3;2. Beaty Museum, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4;1. Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz, Am Museum 1, 02826, Görlitz, Germany;2. Universität Essen-Duisburg, Angewandte Botanik und Vulkanbiologie, Universitätsstraße 5, 45141 Essen, Germany;1. Direction de la recherche forestière, ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, Québec, QC, Canada;2. Centre d’étude de la forêt, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada;3. Direction du soutien à la gestion du régime forestier ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, Québec, QC, Canada;1. The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk), SE-75183 Uppsala, Sweden;2. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology, Box 7044, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden;3. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden;1. Center for Research on Sustainable Forests, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA;2. Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA;3. Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3, Canada;1. Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States;2. Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, Unites States;3. Environmental Studies Program, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States;4. Institute for Renewable Natural Resources, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States |
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| Abstract: | The distributional ecology of 87 macrolichens is reported from 14 unmanaged mid-seral and old forest stands along a precipitation gradient in south-central British Columbia. We used a combination of univariate and multivariate statistics to investigate the role of forest structure and stand age in the distribution of epiphytic macrolichens in interior cedar-hemlock forests. Old forests support a higher number of species; although mean species richness is not significantly different between the two age classes. Terricolous and epixylic community structure is correlated with stand age and log characteristics, but the epiphtytic community is not. Epiphytic community structure is strongly associated with precipitation in the old stands, but not in the mid-seral stands. Old forests at the wetter end of the precipitation gradient contained several old-growth associated species, all of which are hygrophytic. Most epiphytic macrolichens associated with old forests are not dependent on specific structural attributes. However, western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) harbors the greatest number of arboreal macrolichen species by far in these unmanaged stands and should, therefore, be considered a key indicator in managed forests. Our study suggests that most macrolichen species found in old forests can also occur in 70- to 165-year-old forests dating from stand-replacing fires. Old forests, however, clearly provide important habitat for oceanic epiphytes at the edge of their ecological range in the interior of British Columbia. Our findings illustrate that the macrolichen flora in wet toe-slope stands in humid inland British Columbia has a high level of resilience following disturbance under natural succession conditions. It also underlines the point that some species, like Lobaria pulmonaria, are good indicators of old-growth forests in certain regions but not in others, suggesting a careful use of the term old-growth dependence. |
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| Keywords: | Biodiversity Bioindicators Forest management Lichen Old growth |
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