I did not find specific studies with this subject, I would like to know, what factors affect the coverage of lichens? and which confusion factors affect it; the diameter at breast height, the height at which they are, the species or family, of the host tree, etc.
Hi Andrei, could you please explain better what do you mean for 'morphological composition'? Are you speaking about growth forms (e.g. crustose vs. foliose lichens) or intra-specific variations (e.g. thalli with bigger or smaller lobes or something like that)?
However, my answer would be yes for almost all the cases you reported and even more. If we are dealing with growth forms there a complex interaction of direct and indirect factors which could drive the relative composition of an epiphytic lichen community. For instance, the tree species encompass several distinct factors, such as the available light (which is related to the canopy structure across seasons) and the chemical and physical characteristics of the bark (pH, water retention, buffer effect, texture....). Regarding the morphological features (e.g. tree bark texture) they basically drive the probability of lichen sexuate and/or vegetative propagules to install and develop on the tree.
As for DBH you were citing, it is potentially related to the tree age. So, among the other points, there could be also a 'succession effect' within the lichen communities.
As far as I know there is a lot of literature telling this story, but probably you might find many information on an old but very clear publication by J.J. Barkman (nomen omen!): Phytosociology and Ecology of Cryptogamic Epiphytes. By J. J. Barkman Van Gorcum and Company. N. V., Assen, Netherlands. 1958. Reprinted 1969.
Not sure to have fully got your point. In case, please feel free to ask again.
Ciao, Paolo
If you are searching for studies which directly address the influence of bark texture independent of confounding factors, the only one that I know of is the Sillett et al publication below. They used an experimental approach that showed that dispersal limitation was more important than bark texture (and other site-specific factors) in this particular case.
Sillett, S. C., B. McCune, J. E. Peck, T. R. Rambo, and A. Ruchty. 2000. Dispersal limitations of epiphytic lichens result in species dependent on old-growth forests. Ecological Applications 10:789–799.
Another good, and more recent, general resource is:
Bates, J. W. 2000. Mineral nutrition, substratum ecology, and pollution. Pages 248–311 in A. J. Shaw and B. Goffinet (eds.), Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge University Press.
Thank you for answers, I mean the morphological composition to the growth forms (crustose, foliose, squamulose & fruticose); What I wanted to investigate, if varies the composition of lichens according to different types of bark on trees and which preferences that they have to choose the substrate (in this case bark tree texture), because I saw that some trees of Polylepis sp. who have a bark with a paper shaped, they will have a low amount or absence of epiphytic lichens. Also I want to know if the DBH (age of the tree) affect the coverage of this lichens (foliose, etc).The most papers that I Found It's about this topics (adjunct)
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