Epiphytic macrolichens in relation to forest management and topography in a western Oregon watershed

approved: __________________________________________ Bruce McCune This dissertation describes patterns in epiphytic macrolichen community composition, diversity, and biomass across various stand types in the Blue River watershed of western Oregon. It first examines the relative importance of ecological factors such as stand age, remnant tree retention, and topography to lichen communities in the landscape. It then develops models for estimating epiphytic macrolichen biomass and uses these models to assess potential impacts of forest management strategies on future lichen biomass in the watershed. Epiphytic macrolichen communities were sampled in 117 coniferous stands in uplands and riparian areas. Stands were typed by stand age (young, <20; pole, 2180; mature, 81-200; and old-growth, >200 yrs) and by the degree of remnant tree retention (older trees that survived the most recent disturbance). Lichen biomass (oven-dried, kg/ha) was estimated for three functional groups: nitrogen-fixing cyanolichens, forage lichens, and matrix lichens in 63 of the 117 stands. Elevation was the leading factor related to differences in macrolichen communities and biomass. Cyanolichens (dominated by Lobaria oregana) were largely limited to lower elevations and were most abundant in old growth (median 1,377 kg/ha). Lichen community composition changed with stand age. Remnant presence was related only to lichen community differences in young stands. Lichen biomass increased with stand age and with remnant retention. Stands along perennial streams were cyanolichen hotspots compared to uplands. Lichen biomass was unrelated to uplands and riparian areas. Regression models estimating lichen biomass by functional group were developed from topography, stand structure, and lichen communities. The model for cyanolichen biomass had the strongest predictive power (R = 0.85), whereas models for forage and matrix lichen biomass were less powerful (R = 0.55 and R = 0.58, respectively). We estimated cyanolichen and forage lichen biomass in the present watershed and forecasted lichen biomass in 200 yrs for two different management scenarios: the Landscape Plan (LP) and the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP). Under both scenarios, lichen biomass was predicted to increase substantially from current levels due to increased remnant tree retention and the elimination of clear-cutting. The LP scenario yielded 12% higher forage lichen biomass and 8% higher cyanolichen biomass than the NWFP. Epiphytic Macrolichens in Relation to Forest Management and Topography in a Western Oregon Watershed by Shanti D. Berryman

[1]  W. Denison,et al.  A 400-year-old Douglas fir tree and its epiphytes: biomass, surface area, and their distributions , 1977 .

[2]  F. S. Gilbert,et al.  The Fragmented Forest: Island Biogeography and the Preservation of Biotic Diversity. , 1985 .

[3]  S. C. Sillett.  Branch Epiphyte Assemblages in the Forest Interior and on the Clearcut Edge of a 700-Year-Old Douglas Fir Canopy in Western Oregon , 1995 .

[4]  Per‐Anders Esseen,et al.  Epiphytic Lichen Biomass in Managed and Old-Growth Boreal Forests: Effect of Branch Quality , 1996 .

[5]  Per‐Anders Esseen,et al.  Growth and vitality of epiphytic lichens , 1996, Oecologia.

[6]  P. Legendre,et al.  SPECIES ASSEMBLAGES AND INDICATOR SPECIES:THE NEED FOR A FLEXIBLE ASYMMETRICAL APPROACH , 1997 .

[7]  J. Soós,et al.  Quantitative observations on epidendric lichens used as food by caribou. , 1960 .

[8]  P. Sollins,et al.  The Internal Element Cycles of an Old‐Growth Douglas‐Fir Ecosystem in Western Oregon , 1980 .

[9]  Charles B. Halpern,et al.  Plant Species Diversity in Natural and Managed Forests of the Pacific Northwest , 1995 .

[10]  L. Tibell.  Crustose lichens as indicators of forest continuity in boreal coniferous forests , 1992 .

[11]  Richard E. Miller,et al.  Ammonium nitrate, urea, and biuret fertilizers increase volume growth of 57-year-old douglas-fir trees within a gradient of nitrogen deficiency. Forest Service research paper , 1996 .

[12]  S. Stevenson.  Distribution and abundance of arboreal lichens and their use as forage by blacktailed deer , 1978 .

[13]  B. McCune,et al.  Hotspots of Epiphytic Lichen Diversity in Two Young Managed Forests , 1997 .

[14]  G. Hayward,et al.  Lichens as Nesting Material for Northern Flying Squirrels in the Northern Rocky Mountains , 1994 .

[15]  E. Rominger,et al.  Early-winter habitat of woodland caribou, Selkirk Mountains, British Columbia , 1989 .

[16]  B. McCune,et al.  Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest , 1998 .

[17]  T. H. Nash,et al.  The Role of the Fruticose Lichen Ramalina menziesii in the Annual Turnover of Biomass and Macronutrients in a Blue Oak Woodland , 1990, Botanical Gazette.

[18]  B. McCune.  Using Epiphyte Litter to Estimate Epiphyte Biomass , 1994 .

[19]  J. Trappe,et al.  Food habits of the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) in Oregon , 1985 .

[20]  B. McCune,et al.  Differences in lichen and bryophyte communities between old-growth and managed second-growth forests in the Swan Valley, Montana , 1991 .

[21]  T. Rambo,et al.  Ecology and Conservation of a Rare, Old-Growth-Associated Canopy Lichen in a Silvicultural Landscape , 2000 .

[22]  T. Rambo,et al.  Four Years of Epiphyte Colonization in Douglas-fir Forest Canopies , 2000 .

[23]  B. McCune,et al.  REMNANT TREES AND CANOPY LICHEN COMMUNITIES IN WESTERN OREGON: A RETROSPECTIVE APPROACH , 1997 .

[24]  B. McCune,et al.  Gradients in Epiphyte Biomass in Three Pseudotsuga-Tsuga Forests of Different Ages in Western Oregon and Washington , 1993 .

[25]  M. Lowman,et al.  Nonvascular epiphytes in forest canopies: worldwide distribution, abundance, and ecological roles , 1995 .

[26]  K. Price,et al.  EPIPHYTIC LICHEN ABUNDANCE: EFFECTS OF STAND AGE AND COMPOSITION IN COASTAL BRITISH COLUMBIA , 2001 .

[27]  S. Selva.  Lichen diversity and stand continuity in the northern hardwoods and spruce-fir forests of northern New England and western New Brunswick , 1994 .

[28]  Per‐Anders Esseen,et al.  Epiphytic macrolichens in managed and natural forest landscapes: a comparison at two spatial scales , 1998 .

[29]  A. Beattie,et al.  Vascular Plant Diversity as a Surrogate for Bryophyte and Lichen Diversity , 1999 .

[30]  D. Richardson.  Understanding the pollution sensitivity of lichens , 1988 .

[31]  Per‐Anders Esseen,et al.  Are epiphytic lichens in young forests limited by local dispersal? , 2000 .

[32]  Thomas A. Spies,et al.  Dynamics and Pattern of a Managed Coniferous Forest Landscape in Oregon , 1994 .

[33]  T. Spies.  Plant species diversity and occurrence in young, mature, and old-growth Douglas-fir stands in western Oregon and Washington , 1991 .

[34]  P. Muir,et al.  Growth of Usnea longissima Across a Variety of Habitats in the Oregon Coast Range , 2002 .

[35]  E. W. Beals,et al.  Bray-curtis ordination: an effective strategy for analysis of multivariate ecological data , 1984 .

[36]  T. Rambo,et al.  DISPERSAL LIMITATIONS OF EPIPHYTIC LICHENS RESULT IN SPECIES DEPENDENT ON OLD‐GROWTH FORESTS , 2000 .

[37]  F. Swanson,et al.  LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT USING HISTORICAL FIRE REGIMES: BLUE RIVER, OREGON , 1999 .

[38]  B. McCune,et al.  SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF CYANOLICHEN TRANSPLANTS IN DOUGLAS-FIR FOREST CANOPIES , 1998 .

[39]  Per‐Anders Esseen.  Litter fall of epiphytic macrolichens in two old Picea abies forests in Sweden , 1985 .

[40]  B. McCune,et al.  Concentration of Rare Epiphytic Lichens Along Large Streams in a Mountainous Watershed in Oregon, U.S.A , 2002 .

[41]  E. Peterson.  Analysis and prediction of patterns in lichen communities over the western Oregon landscape , 2000 .

[42]  J. Franklin,et al.  New Forestry Principles from Ecosystem Analysis of Pacific Northwest Forests. , 1992, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[43]  R. Whittaker.  Evolution and measurement of species diversity , 1972 .

[44]  E. Peterson,et al.  Diversity and succession of epiphytic macrolichen communities in low-elevation managed conifer forests in Western Oregon , 2001 .

[45]  Computational Methods of Multivariate Analysis in Physical Geography , 1977 .

[46]  Peter J. Weisberg,et al.  Fire history, fire regimes, and development of forest structure in the central western Oregon Cascades , 1998 .

[47]  B. McCune,et al.  Lichen Communities as Indicators of Forest Health , 2000 .

[48]  J. Agee.  Fire Ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests , 1993 .

[49]  E. Norse,et al.  Ancient Forests of the Pacific Northwest , 1989 .

[50]  S. C. Sillett.  Growth Rates of Two Epiphytic Cyanolichen Species at the Edge and in the Interior of a 700-Year-Old Douglas Fir Forest in the Western Cascades of Oregon , 1994 .

[51]  M. Kuusinen,et al.  Edge Effects on the Epiphytic Lichen Flora of Picea Abies in Middle Boreal Finland , 2000, The Lichenologist.

[52]  D. F. Berg,et al.  Alternative silviclutural approaches to timber harvesting : variable retention harvest systems , 1997 .

[53]  Dylan Keon,et al.  Equations for potential annual direct incident radiation and heat load , 2002 .

[54]  G. Hayward,et al.  Northern flying squirrel seasonal food habits in the interior conifer forests of Central Idaho, USA , 1997 .

[55]  Paul W. Mielke,et al.  34 Meteorological applications of permutation techniques based on distance functions , 1984, Nonparametric Methods.

[56]  C. Maser,et al.  The northern flying squirrel: a mycophagist in southwestern Oregon , 1986 .

[57]  J. Rolstad,et al.  EPIPHYTIC LICHENS IN NORWEGIAN COASTAL SPRUCE FOREST: HISTORIC LOGGING AND PRESENT FOREST STRUCTURE , 2001 .

[58]  M. Kauppi,et al.  Influence of Stand Age And Structure on the Epiphytic Lichen Vegetation in the Middle-Boreal Forests of Finland , 1992, The Lichenologist.

[59]  J. Siitonen,et al.  Epiphytic lichen diversity in old‐growth and managed Picea abies stands in southern Finland , 1998 .

[60]  F. Rhoades.  Biomass of Epiphytic Lichens and Bryophytes on Abies lasiocarpa on a Mt. Baker Lava Flow, Washington , 1981 .

[61]  J. T. Curtis,et al.  An Ordination of the Upland Forest Communities of Southern Wisconsin , 1957 .

[62]  M. Brown,et al.  Conservation and reservation of non-vascular plants in Tasmania, with special reference to lichens , 1994, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[63]  K. Kvamme,et al.  Improvements in the Permutation Test for the Spatial Analysis of the Distribution of Artifacts into Classes , 1983, American Antiquity.

[64]  A. Rosso.  Shrub epiphyte communities in relation to stand management in forests of western Oregon , 2000 .

[65]  Per‐Anders Esseen,et al.  Edge Effects on an Epiphytic Lichen in Fragmented Forests , 1998 .

[66]  J. Franklin.  Preserving Biodiversity: Species, Ecosystems, or Landscapes? , 1993, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[67]  J. Kruskal.  Nonmetric multidimensional scaling: A numerical method , 1964 .

[68]  W. Schlesinger,et al.  Mineral Cycling and Epiphytic Lichens: Implications at the Ecosystem Level , 1991, The Lichenologist.

[69]  J. P. Clement,et al.  Crown structure and the distribution of epiphyte functional group biomass in old-growth Pseudotsuga menziesii trees , 1999 .

[70]  Lawrence H. Pike.  The Importance of Epiphytic Lichens in Mineral Cycling1,"2 , 1978 .

[71]  G. Parker,et al.  Vertical profile of epiphytes in a Pacific Northwest old-growth forest , 1997 .

[72]  Per‐Anders Esseen,et al.  Invertebrate communities in boreal forest canopies as influenced by forestry and lichens with implications for passerine birds , 1995 .

[73]  Stephen C. Sillett,et al.  Distribution of epiphytic macrolichens in relation to remnant trees in a multiple-age Douglas-fir forest , 1999 .

[74]  L. Jack Lyon,et al.  Habitat use by woodland caribou in the Selkirk Mountains , 1989 .

[75]  F. Rose.  Lichenological indicators of age and environmental continuity in woodlands , 1976 .

[76]  B. McCune,et al.  Repeatability of Community Data: Species Richness Versus Gradient Scores in Large-scale Lichen Studies , 1997 .

[77]  L. Gustafsson,et al.  Retention of trees at final harvest—evaluation of a conservation technique using epiphytic bryophyte and lichen transplants , 1999 .