Bedrock-Dependent Effects of Climate Change on Terricolous Lichens Along Elevational Gradients in the Alps.

In this study, we focused on the bedrock-dependent effects of climate change on terricolous lichen communities along elevational gradients in the Alps. In particular, we contrasted between carbonatic and siliceous bedrock, hypothesizing more favourable conditions on siliceous than on carbonatic bedrock, where dryer conditions may exacerbate the effects of climate change. To test this hypothesis, we compared terricolous lichen diversity patterns between the two bedrock types in terms of (1) species richness, (2) beta-diversity, (3) proportion of cryophilous species, and (4) functional diversity, also testing the effect of the elevational gradient as a proxy for expected climate warming.

The Dolichens database: the lichen biota of the Dolomites.

The Dolichens project provides the first dynamic inventory of the lichens of the Dolomites (Eastern Alps, Italy). Occurrence records were retrieved from published and grey literature, reviewed herbaria, unpublished records collected by the authors, and new sampling campaigns, covering a period from 1820 to 2022. Currently, the dataset contains 56,251 records, referring to 1,719 infrageneric taxa, reported from 1820 to 2022, from hilly to nival belts, and corresponding to about half of the species known for the whole Alpine chain.

Microclimatic Alteration after Logging Affects the Growth of the Endangered Lichen .

Microclimatic conditions are important in determining lichen distribution at small scale, and may determine whether the species persist when the surrounding environmental conditions have drastically changed. This is the case with forest management, since a sudden variation of microclimatic conditions (increase of solar radiation, temperature, wind and a reduction of humidity) may occur after logging. In this study, the combined effect of forest logging and microclimatic conditions on the growth probabilities and growth rates of the model species was assessed in mixed oak stands.

The lichens of the Majella National Park (Central Italy): an annotated checklist.

The botanical exploration of the Majella National Park has a long tradition dating back to the eighteenth century. However, the lichen biota of this area is still poorly investigated. To provide a baseline for future investigations, in this annotated checklist, we summarised all available information on the occurrence of lichens in the Majella National Park, retrieved from previous literature, herbarium material and original data produced by recent research.

Morphological and Chemical Traits of Respond to Multiple Environmental Factors in Acidic Dry Grasslands.

Terricolous lichen communities in lowlands occur especially in open dry habitats. Such communities are often dominated by species of the genus , which are very variable in morphology, reproduction strategies, and secondary metabolites. In this work, we investigated traits-environment relationships considering vegetation dynamics, substrate pH, disturbance, and climate.

Contrasting multitaxon responses to climate change in Mediterranean mountains.

We explored the influence of climatic factors on diversity patterns of multiple taxa (lichens, bryophytes, and vascular plants) along a steep elevational gradient to predict communities' dynamics under future climate change scenarios in Mediterranean regions. We analysed (1) species richness patterns in terms of heat-adapted, intermediate, and cold-adapted species; (2) pairwise beta-diversity patterns, also accounting for its two different components, species replacement and richness difference; (3) the influence of climatic variables on species functional traits. Species richness is influenced by different factors between three taxonomic groups, while beta diversity differs mainly between plants and cryptogams.