Epiphytes in wooded pastures: Isolation matters for lichen but not for bryophyte species richness.

ABSTRACT: Sylvo-pastoral systems are species-rich man-made landscapes that are currently often severely threatened by abandonment or management intensification. At low tree densities, single trees in these systems represent habitat islands for epiphytic cryptogams. Here, we focused on sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) wooded pastures in the northern European Alps. We assessed per tree species richness of bryophytes and lichens on 90 sycamore maple trees distributed across six study sites. We analysed the effects of a range of explanatory variables (tree characteristics, environmental variables and isolation measures) on the richness of epiphytic bryophytes and lichens and various functional subgroups (based on diaspore size, habitat preference and red list status). Furthermore, we estimated the e

SUBMITTER: Kiebacher T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5526515 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature