Biodiversity and conservation of terricolous lichens and bryophytes in continental lowlands of northern Italy: the role
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Biodiversity and conservation of terricolous lichens and bryophytes in continental lowlands of northern Italy: the role of different dry habitat types Gabriele Gheza, et al. [full author details at the end of the article] Received: 27 January 2020 / Revised: 6 August 2020 / Accepted: 10 August 2020 Ó The Author(s) 2020
Abstract In dry habitats of European lowlands terricolous lichens and bryophytes are almost neglected in conservation practises, even if they may strongly contribute to biodiversity. This study aims at (a) testing the role of heathlands, acidic and calcareous dry grasslands for lichen and bryophyte diversity and conservation in lowland areas of northern Italy characterized by high human impact and habitat fragmentation; (b) detecting the effect of environmental drivers and vegetation dynamics on species richness and composition. Lichens, bryophytes, vascular plants, and environmental variables were recorded in 287 circular plots for 75 sites. Our results indicate that heathlands, acidic and calcareous dry grasslands host peculiar terricolous lichen and bryophyte communities that include several species of conservation concern. Thus, each habitat provides a complementary contribution to lichen and bryophyte diversity in continental lowland landscapes. Furthermore, in each habitat different factors drive species richness and composition with contrasting patterns between lichens and bryophytes. In terms of conservation, our results indicate that management of lowland dry habitats should act at both local and landscape scales. At local scale, vegetation dynamics should be controlled in order to avoid biodiversity loss due to vegetation dynamics and wood encroachment. At the landscape scale, patches of all the three habitats should be maintained to maximize regional diversity. Keywords Bryophytes Dry grasslands Heathlands Lichens Natura 2000 network Nature conservation
Introduction Conservation efforts and protected areas are mainly targeted for ‘‘charismatic species’’, leaving many overlooked taxa almost unprotected (Darbyshire et al. 2017; Rubio-Salcedo et al. 2013). This approach may lead to an unaware, but relevant, loss of biodiversity. Thus, Communicated by T.G. Allan Green. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-02002034-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Biodiversity and Conservation
the maintenance of these overlooked organisms is still a challenge in nature conservation and protection (Nascimbene et al. 2013). Lichens and bryophytes, in particular terricolous species, are among the most neglected taxa, their diversity patterns being generally less explored than those of vascular plants. However, biodiversity patterns of these organisms have been increasingly studied in the last decade, due to the growing awareness of the importance that ‘‘biological soil crusts’’ play for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in dr
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