Efects of forests fragmentation onepiphytic lichens in the Mediterranean Region

Abstract

Martínez, I., Belinchón, R., Otárola, M.G., Aragón, G., Prieto, M., Escudero, A. (2011). Efects of forests fragmentation onepiphytic lichens in the Mediterranean Region. Ecosistemas 20(2-3):54-67

Most forest landscapes in much of the planet have been transformed into a mosaic of fragments of different sizes and degree of isolation within a matrix of vegetation with various states of degradation. This transformation of the landscape has affected the population dynamics and species richness and diversity of communities. In this context, the knowledge we have of the status of populations of organisms "notcharismatic", such as lichens, is very low. The few studies conducted so far indicate that the habitat quality of forest fragments and the type of intervening matrix, and snot their size and degree of isolation, determine the distribution, vitality, fertility, abundance and genetic diversity of popylations and the richness of communities of epiphytic lichens. Our results may suggest that lichen populations may be not yet responding, by losses of genetic diversity or changes in abundance of individuals, to the changes in the configuration of the landscape, and that more time is needes to detect a response.