Could epiphytes be xenophobic? Evaluating the use of native versus exotic phorophytes by the vascular epiphytic community in an urban environment

Abstract

Epiphytes enrich the vegetation cover and provide relevant ecosystem services, which are very important in the urban environment for mitigating air pollution and effects such as heat islands. The majority of tree species used in the urban aforestation are exotic, and their capacity to provide a substratum for epiphytes is not thoroughly exploited. We tested an eventual preference of vascular epiphytes for exotic or native phorophytes in an urban area inside the Atlantic forest domain, evaluating the structure and composition of the studied community in four tree species. There was no preference for native or exotic trees, and the community showed a generalistic pattern in the choice of phorophytes. We hypothesized about other features which could be responsible for the distribution of epiphytes in the urban environment. This study showed that both exotic and native phorophytes can act as satisfactory substratum for the urban vascular epiphytes.