Lichen traits and species as indicators of vegetation and environment

Abstract

Abstract Lichens in the Arctic play important ecological roles. They also face the threats of increasing fire and shrub and tree expansion, exacerbated or caused by climate change. These forces may lead to changes not only in lichen community composition but also in the abundance, diversity and distribution of lichen functional traits. We sought to connect landscape-scale patterns of lichen community composition and traits to environmental gradients to both monitor lichen communities and clarify community-trait-environment relationships. We measured lichens throughout one of the largest and most remote U.S. National Parks within the Arctic. We then analyzed lichen community composition and species richness within ecologically informative lichen trait groups along environmental and vascular vegetation gradients. Macrolichen species richness in 0.4 ha plots averaged 41 species with a total landscape level observed gamma diversity of 262 macrolichen species. Jackknife estimators placed the landscape level ma...