An Old-Growth Forest at the Caspian Sea Coast is Similar in Epiphytic Lichens to Lowland Deciduous Forests in Central Europe

Abstract

Abstract: Ismailov, A., Urbanavichus, G., Vondrak, J. & Pouska, V. 2017. An old-growth forest at the Caspian Sea coast is similar in epiphytic lichens to lowland deciduous forests in Central Europe. — Herzogia 30: 103–125. We have recorded 138 species (125 of them epiphytic/epixylic) in a single preserved lowland forest in Dagestan (Russia), “Samurski” forest at the west coast of the Caspian Sea. Within its 2,000 hectares, some remnants of oldgrowth forests persist, dominated by Acer campestre, Carpinus betulus and Quercus robur. This mix of tree species is typical of many lowland deciduous forests in Central Europe, and we found that the lichen flora of Samurski also has much in common with those forests, but less in common with other types of Central European forests. Comparison with geographically closer lowland forests in Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran is impossible due to a lack of data. Using Detrended Correspondence Analysis, we defined a group of species diagnostic for temperate lowland deciduous for...