The Impact of Visible Symptoms of Thallus Damage on the Phycobiota of Mediterranean Epiphytic Lichens.

ABSTRACT: Lichens are excellent bioindicators of overall ecosystem health. The symbiotic nature of their thalli enables tracking changes in humidity, temperature, habitat disturbance and air pollution, often before larger plants do. Sensitive species usually show visible thallus damage, such as bleaching or changes in colour (including total or partial necrosis, and death of the photosynthetic component of the symbiosis), slow growth, and/or biases in reproductive strategies. Particularly, the extent to which these damages are associated with changes in the microscopic photosynthetic community inhabiting lichen thalli (phycobiota) remains poorly understood. Here, we combined Sanger and Illumina sequencing techniques to characterize the diversity and community structure of the eukaryotic phycobiome i

SUBMITTER: Pazos T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC13473299 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature