Fine spatial pattern of an epiphytic lichen species is affected by habitat conditions in two forest types in the Iberian Mediterranean region

Belinchón, Rocío and Martínez, Isabel and Aragón, Gregorio and Escudero, Adrián and Cruz Rot, Marcelino de la (2011). Fine spatial pattern of an epiphytic lichen species is affected by habitat conditions in two forest types in the Iberian Mediterranean region. "Fungal Biology", v. 115 (n. 12); pp. 1270-1278. ISSN 1878-6146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2011.09.003.

Description

Title: Fine spatial pattern of an epiphytic lichen species is affected by habitat conditions in two forest types in the Iberian Mediterranean region
Author/s:
  • Belinchón, Rocío
  • Martínez, Isabel
  • Aragón, Gregorio
  • Escudero, Adrián
  • Cruz Rot, Marcelino de la
Item Type: Article
Título de Revista/Publicación: Fungal Biology
Date: December 2011
ISSN: 1878-6146
Volume: 115
Subjects:
Freetext Keywords: Dispersal;Forest management; Habitat quality; Lichens; Lobaria pulmonaria; Population ecology
Faculty: E.U.I.T. Agrícolas (UPM)
Department: Biología Vegetal [hasta 2014]
Creative Commons Licenses: Recognition

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Abstract

Persistence and abundance of species is determined by habitat availability and the ability to disperse and colonize habitats at contrasting spatial scales. Favourable habitat fragments are also heterogeneous in quality, providing differing opportunities for establishment
and affecting the population dynamics of a species. Based on these principles, we suggest that the presence and abundance of epiphytes may reflect their dispersal ability,
which is primarily determined by the spatial structure of host trees, but also by host quality.
To our knowledge there has been no explicit test of the importance of host tree spatial pattern for epiphytes in Mediterranean forests. We hypothesized that performance and
host occupancy in a favourable habitat depend on the spatial pattern of host trees, because this pattern affects the dispersal ability of each epiphyte and it also determines the availability of suitable sites for establishment. We tested this hypothesis using new point pattern analysis tools and generalized linear mixed models to investigate the spatial distribution and performance of the epiphytic lichen Lobaria pulmonaria, which inhabits
two types of host trees (beeches and Iberian oaks). We tested the effects on L. pulmonaria distribution of tree size, spatial configuration, and host tree identity. We built a model including tree size, stand structure, and several neighbourhood predictors to understand the effect of host tree on L. pulmonaria. We also investigated the relative importance of spatial patterning on the presence and abundance of the species, independently of the host
tree configuration. L. pulmonaria distribution was highly dependent on habitat quality for successful establishment, i.e., tree species identity, tree diameter, and several forest stand structure surrogates. For beech trees, tree diameter was the main factor influencing presence and cover of the lichen, although larger lichen-colonized trees were located close to focal trees, i.e., young trees. However, oak diameter was not an important factor, suggesting
that bark roughness at all diameters favoured lichen establishment. Our results indicate that L. pulmonaria dispersal is not spatially restricted, but it is dependent on habitat quality. Furthermore, new spatial analysis tools suggested that L. pulmonaria cover exhibits a distinct pattern, although the spatial pattern of tree position and size was random.

More information

Item ID: 10630
DC Identifier: https://oa.upm.es/10630/
OAI Identifier: oai:oa.upm.es:10630
DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2011.09.003
Official URL: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/fungal-biology/
Deposited by: PTU Marcelino De la Cruz Rot
Deposited on: 02 Apr 2012 09:58
Last Modified: 20 Apr 2016 18:52
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