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Quantifying Corticolous Arthropods Using Sticky Traps
Published on: January 19, 2020
Occurrence patterns of lichens on stumps in young managed forests
Måns Svensson1, Anders Dahlberg, Thomas Ranius
1Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. mans.svensson@slu.se
Plos One
|May 3, 2013
Summary
Demand for biofuel may reduce dead wood, impacting saproxylic organisms. Lichen diversity on forest stumps, particularly obligately lignicolous species, is linked to stump age and study area, not just overall richness.
Area of Science:
- Forest ecology
- Mycology
- Conservation biology
Background:
- Forestry practices, including bio-fuel harvesting, reduce dead wood availability.
- Cut stumps are a significant dead wood component in managed boreal forests.
- Lichen communities on forest stumps remain understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify lichen species on Norway spruce stumps in young, managed forests.
- To analyze the relationship between lichen species richness and stump/stand characteristics.
- To assess the ecological requirements of obligately lignicolous lichens.
Main Methods:
- Conducted lichen inventories on 576 Norway spruce stumps across 48 forest stands in Central Sweden.
- Recorded 77 lichen species, including 14 obligately lignicolous species.
- Examined the influence of stump age, microclimate, substrate size, and surrounding species pool on lichen diversity.
Main Results:
- Stump age was the most significant factor, with older stumps supporting higher lichen species richness.
- Total lichen species richness and richness of obligately lignicolous lichens showed similar trends.
- Study area influenced the occupancy of individual species, despite similar overall richness.
Conclusions:
- Lichen species richness on stumps is primarily influenced by stump age and geographical location.
- Obligately lignicolous lichens share ecological requirements with generalist lichens on stumps.
- Species richness alone is an inadequate indicator for the conservation needs of individual obligately lignicolous lichen species.
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