The trade-off between photosynthetic rate and thallus moisture-demand explains lichen habitat association with the temperate rainforest.

ABSTRACT: Temperate rainforests are globally rare, covering less than 1% of the Earth's surface, with 15% of their suitable climate space located in Europe. These ecosystems are uniquely defined by diverse cryptogamic species, particularly epiphytic lichens, which play crucial roles in forest biodiversity, trophic interactions, and biogeochemical processes. However, the ecophysiology of temperate rainforest lichens, with the potential to explain their regional to local distribution, their primary productivity, growth rates and biomass accumulation, remains under researched. This study asked whether the coexistence of morphologically different species within Scotland's temperate rainforest is driven by adaptation and subsequent species-sorting into contrasting microclimatic moisture environments. We

SUBMITTER: Ormond A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11882653 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature