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Current issue: Volume 22, No. 2 (2022)
Krugļikova A., Moisejevs R, Nitcis M., Mežaka A. 2022. Application of lichen functional
traits in identification of temperate old-growth broad-leaved forests. Acta Biol. Univ. Daugavp.,
22 (2): 167 – 179.
Abstract
Woodland key habitats (WKHs) are the main shelter for biodiversity in Latvia which provide shelter not only for widespread forest species, but also for many habitat-specific, rare and unique lichen species. We analyzed epiphytic lichen functional traits in relation to forest stand age in randomly selected thirty broad-leaved forest stands in Latvia. Within the study, in total 92 of epiphytic lichen taxa were found on 150 broad-leaved trees. We found that old-growth broad-leaved forests are more rich in lichen species and functional traits than young and middle-aged forest stands. In determining WKHs, the following groups of functional traits can be indicative: foliose or squamulose thallus, intense yellow and yellow-green thallus color.
Keywords: epiphytic lichens, broad-leaved forests, lichen functional traits, Woodland key habitats.
*Corresponding author: Aleksandra Kruglikova. Institute of Life Sciences and Technology, Daugavpils University, Parādes Str. 1A, Daugavpils, Latvia, LV5401, E-mail:
aleksandra.kruglikova@du.lv
Aleksandra Krugļikova, Rolands Moisejevs, Māris Nitcis, Anna Mežaka.
