Detecting the drivers of functional diversity in a local lichen flora: a case study on the extinct volcano of Roccamonfi
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CONSERVATION ECOLOGY – ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Detecting the drivers of functional diversity in a local lichen flora: a case study on the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina (southern Italy) Antonello Migliozzi1 · Immacolata Catalano1 · Antonio Mingo1 · Giuseppa Grazia Aprile1 Received: 2 November 2019 / Accepted: 13 October 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Current strategies for conservation reportedly suffer from an inadequate awareness of the drivers affecting lichen diversity, pointing to the need to fully develop a functional approach to lichen ecology. This study is an attempt to detect the drivers affecting functional diversity in the lichen flora of a volcanic Mediterranean area. Data on epiphytic lichen distribution were correlated with information coming from a GIS analysis. Species richness, functional diversity and indicator values of lichens species were analyzed as a function of altitude, bioclimatic patterns and land use patterns. Both taxonomic and functional diversity were found to increase with altitude, peaking at 600 m a.s.l. and slightly decreasing at higher elevations. A filtering effect of altitude on lichen growth-forms was detected at increasing altitude, with foliose isidiate lichens replacing crustose lichens with sexual reproduction, cyanobacteria replacing Trentepohlia as photobiont, and oligotrophic species linked to partially shaded environments gradually replacing species indicating eutrophic conditions. Forest stations impacted by low impact traditional agriculture tended to express higher lichen diversity compared to either undisturbed broadleaved forests or intensive orchards. These data demonstrate the need to integrate traditional low-impact agricultural practices in protected areas. Moreover, they provide the evidence that reanalyzing past and recent lichenological censuses with the proposed analytical tools may help previewing and driving the evolution of endangered ecosystems. Keywords Altitudinal gradient · Bioindicators · GIS analysis · Land-use patterns · Protected areas
Introduction In spite of the efforts performed to preserve the biological diversity, the definition of a clear and effective strategy to protect lichen species is still a critical question (Ellis and Coppins 2006; Martinez et al. 2006; Scheidegger and Werth 2009; Rubio-Salcedo et al. 2013; Hurtado et al. 2019). Lichens—the symbiotic associations of an heterotrophic mycobiont with one or more autotrophic photobionts—are Communicated by Anne Pringle. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04790-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Antonio Mingo [email protected] Antonello Migliozzi [email protected] 1
Dipartimento di Agraria, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Università, 100, Portici, 80055 Naples, Italy
widely distributed across a wide range of substrates and ecosystems (Galloway 1992; Asplund and Wardle 2016), where they play a relevant role
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