Epiphytic bryophytes on European aspenPopulus tremulain old-growth forests in northeastern Finland and in adjacent sites in Russia

Abstract

We studied the occurrence and cover of epiphytic bryophytes and one lichen species (Lobaria pulmonaria (L.) Hoffm.) growing on Populus tremula L. trunks. Our aim was to explore the spatial scales where epiphyte species respond to their environment. At the landscape scale, fragmented Finnish old-growth forests close to the Russian border and farther west in a heavily fragmented landscape were compared with Russian sites with more continuous old-growth forest landscapes to assess the effect of landscape structure on epiphyte assemblages. We studied factors affecting populations at the level of individual sites and local habitat patches within the forests. Twelve sites were surveyed for epiphytes. We estimated epiphyte occurrence from 353 Populus tremula trunks. There seemed to be only minor differences in the structure of epiphyte assemblages between the three landscapes surveyed. Species richness varied also independently of the landscape structure but was positively related to regional Populus tremula abundance (alpha diversity) and the size of the substrate trunk (point diversity). At the regional scale, the most important factor affecting the occurrence of epiphytes was the abundance of Populus tremula. At the local scale, the size of the Populus tremula surveyed and tree density around the trunk surveyed correlated positively with the occurrence of some species. The size and abundance of Populus tremula as well as tree density are the most important factors for maintaining viable populations of the studied species.Key words: biodiversity, boreal forest, Bryophyte, forest management, landscape structure, Lobaria pulmonaria.