Flexible or fortified? How lichens balance defence strategies across climatic harshness gradients.

ABSTRACT: Lichens play important roles in habitat formation and community succession in polar and alpine ecosystems. Despite their significance, the ecological effects of lichen traits remain poorly researched. We propose a trait trade-off for managing light exposure based on climatic harshness. In the harshest cold environments, where abiotic stress predominates over biotic pressures, lichens should rely on photostable, recalcitrant and immobile substances such as allomelanin and hydrophobic compounds. These compounds provide durable protection without the need for continual synthesis. In milder conditions where biotic interactions - for example, competition and pathogen presence - become increasingly pronounced, lichens should retain flexibility and produce simple protective secondary compounds th

SUBMITTER: de Jonge IK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11923414 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature