Retention forestry can maintain epiphytic lichens on living pine trees, but provides impoverished habitat for deadwood-associated lichens
Data files
Aug 15, 2024 version files 163.06 KB
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Nirhamo_et_al_Data.xlsx
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README.md
Abstract
Managing forests for timber yields reduces the amounts of old trees and deadwood, which has profound effects on species that are dependent on them. Retention forestry, where some trees are permanently left unharvested on clearcut sites, may enable the formation of deadwood and old trees in managed forests, but it is unresolved how well these practices facilitate the occurrence of species in managed forests, especially in the long term. We studied the capacity of tree retention practices to support the diversity of epiphytic lichens, a key group among threatened forest species. We compared lichen assemblages on retained trees in harvested sites to those on trees in unharvested control sites. The data was collected 21 years post-harvest and included living trees, snags (standing dead trees), and logs (fallen trees) of Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine).
Living trees, snags, and logs each hosted distinct lichen communities. The highest lichen diversity was found on snags. On living trees, species richness was similar in harvested and unharvested sites, but there was slight species turnover. In contrast, deadwood in unharvested sites hosted higher species richness and distinct species assemblages compared to deadwood in harvested sites. These differences were most pronounced on snags. Specifically, unharvested sites contained high-longevity snags (kelo trees), which hosted unique lichen communities with higher lichen richness than any other studied substrate, including the highest numbers of red-listed and deadwood-dependent species.
Synthesis and applications: Retention forestry can support lichen assemblages associated with living Pinus sylvestris. However, maintaining deadwood-associated lichen diversity through retention practices entails significant challenges. Deadwood-associated lichen diversity relies on high-longevity snags and is not sustained by the habitats provided in retention forestry. Biodiversity maintenance in forest management requires comprehensive provision of the habitat features of unmanaged forests, such as a qualitatively representative deadwood profile, which can prove difficult.
README: Retention forestry can maintain epiphytic lichens on living pine trees, but provides impoverished habitat for deadwood-associated lichens
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q2bvq83v0
Description of the data and file structure
The data was collected in the context of a field experiment, where overmature pine-dominated (Pinus sylvestris) forests in boreal Finland were harvested with different treatments. The three treatments included in this data set are: Unharvested (i.e. control), 50H (harvested with 50 m3/ha of retained trees), 10H (harvested with 10 m3/ha of retained trees). The data consists of presence-absence lichen community data surveyed on 396 that include living trees, standing dead trees (snags), and fallen dead trees (logs). These also include 30 kelo trees, i.e. a special type of standing dead tree with exceptional longevity, that were located in or in the vicinity of the control sites. All surveyed trees were Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris).
Files and variables
File: Nirhamo_et_al_Data.xlsx
Description: Presence-absence community data of lichens on the surveyed trees. Each row corresponds to one surveyed tree.
Variables
- Site_no: An identifier for which site the surveyed tree was located in.
- Treatment: The treatment that was applied in the site where the surveyed tree was located.
- Tree_type: The tree type of the surveyed tree; Living, Snag, Log, or Kelo.
- SpRichness: The total number of lichen species observed on the surveyed tree.
- RedList: The total number of lichen species that are nationally red-listed in Finland, according to the IUCN Red List criteria, that were observed on the surveyed tree.
- DWDep: The total number of deadwood-dependent lichen species that were observed on the surveyed tree.
- Rest of the columns: Lichen species that were observed in this study, sorted alphabetically. "0" indicates the species was not observed on the surveyed tree (absence), "1" indicates that the species was observed on the surveyed tree (presence).
Code/software
MS Excel, Google Sheets, or similar spreadsheet editor software.