Recovery kinetics of epiphytic lichen diversity after dieback during a continuously wet season

Abstract

Epiphytic lichens are considered sensitive indicators of environmental change. Excess water is known to depress their photosynthesis, but the effect of long-lasting rain on species richness of epiphytic lichens is rarely reported. By annually repeated records of macrolichen species richness on tree trunks over a period of 33 years that included one long rainy season in year 2000, a strong decline in macrolichen richness on tree trunks was detected after the unusually wet autumn. Afterwards, the lichen richness slowly recovered, but had not yet fully recovered 19 years after the dieback. Thereby, long rainy periods can cause lasting depression in epiphytic lichen richness, and continuous rain should be considered a possible threat to lichens in regions like northern Europe where global change predicts enhanced rainfall frequency.