Lichens as an Indicator of Sea-Level Rise (original) (raw)
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Biological Conservation, 2019
The Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain (MACP) is an ecoregion with high biodiversity that is under imminent threat from sea level rise and habitat loss. Previous studies have shown i) the area to be high in lichen biodiversity, including endemic species, ii) the most lichen species-rich sites are the most imperiled by sea-level rise, and iii) common, widespread lichens have lost significant suitable habitat and are projected to lose more due to sea-level rise. Despite this, the spatial distributions of rare species and the compositional dynamics of lichen communities has not previously been examined. Here, we evaluate the community composition of 599 lichen species in 215 sites across the MACP. We tested whether community similarity is correlated with spatial proximity or environmental conditions. We found that sites with similar environmental characteristics had similar species composition, after controlling for geographic distance. Inland swamps had the highest per-site average number of unique species (1.3) and the two coastal ecosystems, maritime forests and pocosin (a unique form of peatland vegetation), each had an average of nearly one unique species per site. Across the entire MACP, 42% of species were found at five or fewer sites and these were mostly at sites under high risk of being affected by sea level rise. While habitats and species throughout the MACP have been projected to be negatively affected by sea level rise, our results suggest that rare lichens face particularly acute threats. Lack of suitable habitat inland at higher elevations may necessitate intensive mitigation, including facilitated transplants of both lichens and their host trees.
Monitoring climate change with lichens as bioindicators
Pollution atmosphérique, 2015
Lichens are known to be very sensitive to environmental changes. Quite recently it was shown that they also respond to global warming. A mapping guideline (VDI 3957 Part 20) is under way specifying 45 «climate change indicators», all of which are epiphytic lichens that meet certain criteria related to Wirth's revised ecological indicator gures, i.e. (10-K+T)/2 > 6 with N<7 and F>6, or if no indicator gure has been published, lichens with temperate-Mediterranean and sub Atlantic-Mediterranean distribution in Europe. To assess regional ecological consequences of global climate change, in Düsseldorf (Germany) and the surrounding Mettmann County, long term monitoring programs including epiphytic lichens were launched in 2008 and 2009, respectively, the results of which can be merged with those of earlier lichen studies done with the same methodology. Thus, the dynamic change of lichens on phorophytes selected according to VDI 3957 Part 13 could be analyzed over the period 2001 to 2013. Over the years, a total of 100 species were recorded. While the mean number of lichens per phorophyte increased only slightly, the mean number of climate change indicators per tree has at least doubled since 2001. The frequency of nitrophytic lichens (expressed as the proportion of the phorophytes with at least one thallus of the respective species) remains high, while acidophytic lichens are still declining. The frequency of climate change indicators, however, has been increasing steadily over the years: Punctelia subrudecta (+2,6 %/year) > P. jeckeri > P. borreri > Flavoparmelia soredians (+0,6 %/year) > Hypotrachyna afrorevoluta (+0,1 %/year) just to name a few species. Some of the indicator lichens, e.g. Parmotrema reticulatum or Physcia tribacioides, have never been recorded previously in Düsseldorf and the urban hinterland. It is suggested that these observations can, at least in part, be related to climate alterations, because in the area under investigation, mean annual temperature and the mean annual number of days with more than 25 °C are rising steadily.
Lichen Diversity and Biomonitoring: A Special Issue
Diversity
Lichens are symbiotic organisms susceptible to environmental alteration due to their morphological and physiological features. For this reason, researchers and decision-makers are extensively using lichen biomonitoring for assessing the effects of various anthropogenic disturbances. The Special Issue was launched to fulfil some knowledge gaps in this field, such as the development of procedures to interpret and compare results. The SI includes three reviews that explore the application of lichen biomonitoring for detecting the effects of climate change. Three articles and one review paper examined the use at a decision level of biomonitoring of air pollution employing lichens, including the application in environmental forensic. Finally, six research articles are illustrative examples of lichen biomonitoring in poorly known habitats, providing data from the physiological to the community level of observation, and pose the basis for extending comparable approaches on a global scale.
Nascimbene etal Ann Bot FRW lichens 2013
This paper summarizes information on freshwater lichens in relation with their potential for bioindication, mainly pointing to ecological concepts and issues of practical relevance for promoting their inclusion in routine biomonitoring practices, thus contributing to a full implementation of the eu Water framework directive. Results highlight the sensitiveness of freshwater lichens to some factors which cannot be technically measured by singular visits, and have relevance for human planning purposes and environmental impact and risk assessment. however, a full inclusion of freshwater lichens in monitoring practices would benefit from further ecological research testing the influence of potentially meaningful ecological drivers and developing statistically robust sampling methods. This would allow the development of standard guidelines applicable across europe according to the policies of the eu Water framework directive. on the taxonomical side, further dNa-based revisions and the creation of a european checklist of freshwater lichens should provide the basis for developing modern identification tools. finally, it is suggested that the use of freshwater lichens in biomonitoring may be improved by model studies based on comparative trials of full, quantitative, species inventories at different spatial scales and by parallel simplified approaches with selected indicator species and morphological groups.
Long-term monitoring in the Netherlands suggests that lichens respond to global warming
Lichenologist, 2002
There is evidence to suggest that part of the recent changes in the lichen flora of the Netherlands is attributable to an increase in temperature. Changes which have occurred over the last 22 years were studied in detail, and were subjected to a statistical treatment by comparing the change of species to their latitudinal distribution and to ecological determinants.