Assessment of Lichen Vitality During a Transplantation Experiment to a Polluted Site

The present work evaluates the stress effects in two epiphytic lichen species with different thallus morphology, the foliose Parmelia caperata and the fruticose Evernia prunastri, as resulting from transplanting from an unpolluted to an air-polluted area. Lichen samples were collected in Portugal in a clean area, during the spring 2003, and transplanted (1) to the same zone nearby and (2) to a polluted area as affected by an industrial complex. Transplant samples were taken periodically during four months in both places. At the same time lichen samples from the clean-air site native (in-situ) populations were also collected. For each sample were measured the chlorophyll content, the chlorophyll degradation and the cell membrane damage, the latter represented by leacheate conductivity. During the experiment the meteorological conditions were registered. The results indicate the absence of stress effects of transplanting as such, and suggest that leachate conductivity may be the more sensitive indicator of general lichen vitality.     

南极菲尔德斯半岛六种藻类和地衣植物的X荧光分析

为了研究南极的植物与环境间的关系 ,探讨植物在南极环境监测中的作用 ,在无标样条件下 ,利用微束 X荧光分析法对南极菲尔德斯半岛的 6种藻类和地衣植物进行了元素分析。其中藻类植物有孔石莼 (Ulva pertusa)、海膜 (H alymenia sp.)和大型鞘丝藻 (Lyngbya major) ,地衣植物有筛石蕊 (Cladonia borealis)、喇叭石蕊 (C.fimbriata)和松萝 (Usnea sp.)。研究结果发现 ,不同的藻类植物对各种元素的吸收能力不同 ,在 XRF(X射线荧光 )谱中 ,孔石莼比海膜含有更多的元素 ,象 As、Br和 Rb,Cu和 Zn的含量也较高。在大型鞘丝藻中 ,K比 Ca少 ,Zn的含量较高。在 3种地衣植物中 ,其 XRF谱中的元素种类组成非常相似 ,只是 Mn、Fe、Cu和 Zn等元素的相对含量有些差异     

Reform of Carbonate Rock Subsurface by Crustose Lichens and Its Environmental Significance

Crustose lichens are distributed extensively in karst areas in Southern China. They can be found on the surface of carbonate rocks. Through biophysical and biochemical processes, crustose lichens reform the subsurface of carbonate rocks and in the meanwhile change their physical and chemical properties: (1) the mechanical strength decreases by 17.04° on average (up to 33.2° ); (2) the chemical solution surface area increases from 28.26% to 75.36% (lichen microholes considered only); and (3) the water-holding capacity is greatly improved. Comparative field experiments between biokarst samples underneath crustose lichens and fresh rock samples with the same composition and texture show that the corrosional rate of carbonate rocks of the former is 1.264-1.643 times higher than that of the latter. Crustose lichens are considered as an activator of the surface corrosion of carbonate rocks.     

Factors influencing the distribution of coastal lichens Hydropunctaria maura and Wahlenbergiella mucosa

Responses to abiotic and biotic stresses that potentially drive the vertical zonation of the intertidal lichens Hydropunctaria maura, an upper littoral lichen, and Wahlenbergiella mucosa, a lower littoral lichen, were investigated in field and laboratory experiments. When transplanted, both lichens exhibited an inability to survive outside their normal vertical distribution range. W. mucosa appeared to be unable to tolerate prolonged periods of desiccation following translocation from lower to upper littoral regions, whereas H. maura was unable to survive in lower littoral zones possibly owing to increased grazing pressure. The effect of desiccation in both lichens was compared using pulse amplitude modulated chlorophyll fluorescence and infra‐red gas analysis; results indicated a more hydration‐dependent nature of W. mucosa. Photosynthetic (algal) pigments and phenolic compounds were determined in both lichen thalli, and a range of additional coastal lichens occupying a natural gradient from upper to lower shore levels. Pigment composition and concentration in both lichen thalli were similar whereas levels of phenolic compounds were up to three times higher in W. mucosa than H. maura. Pigment and phenolic concentration and composition exhibited some seasonality across 13 different lichens originating from different shore levels. Phenolic concentration increased towards the lower shore, suggesting a potential anti‐herbivory function. This marks the first study of pigments and phenolics in coastal lichen communities, and prompts further investigations on the particular physiological features of marine and maritime lichens that enable them to thrive in this extreme environment.     

石生藻类,地衣,苔藓与碳酸盐岩持水性及生态意义

对藻类,地衣,芭藓生物财溶校样品及相应岩石样品进行了室内蒸发失水,主动吸水试验,结果表明：与无生物覆盖的岩石相比,有藻类生物覆盖的岩石表面失水量,吸水量分别提高１８．８,１．６倍,蒸发失水,主动吸水的时间分别延长４８％,５７％,持水量提高１６．６倍,有地衣生物覆盖的岩石表面失水量,吸水量分别提高２．９,１９．１倍,蒸发失水,主动吸水的时间分别延长３１％,１１９％,持水量提高２．９倍;有苔藓生物覆盖     

Biocrust landscape-scale spatial distribution is strongly controlled by terrain attributes: Topographic thresholds for colonization in a semiarid badland system

Biological soil crust, or biocrust communities, are the dominating life form in many extreme habitats, such as arid and semiarid badlands, where water scarcity and highly erodible substrates limit vegetation cover. While climate, soil and biotic factors have been described as environmental filters influencing biocrust distribution in such biomes, little is known about the effect of terrain attributes on creating specific microhabitats that promote or restrict biocrust colonization. This study aimed to identify the main terrain attributes controlling biocrust distribution in the driest badland system in Europe, the Tabernas Badlands (SE Spain). To do this, we analysed the influence of different terrain attributes related to landscape stability and microclimate formation on the spatial distribution of lichen and cyanobacteria, using field measurements and topographical information from a LiDAR survey. Our results showed that the spatial distribution of cyanobacteria-dominated biocrusts, which are physiologically and morphologically adapted to extreme drought and high UVA radiation, was mostly associated with areas of high potential incoming solar radiation. The exception was bare south-aspect hillslopes with very high sediment transport potential, where bare physically crusted soils were the dominant ground cover. Lichen-dominated biocrusts, in contrast, colonized near the top of north-aspect hillslopes, characterized by low potential incoming solar radiation and potential evapotranspiration, and their cover decreased downstream, as conditions became good enough for vascular plants. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ENDOLITHIC LICHENS,RAPID BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING AND SCHMIDT HAMMER R‐VALUES ON RECENTLY EXPOSED ROCK SURFACES: STORBREEN GLACIER FORELAND,JOTUNHEIMEN, NORWAY

The endolithic lichen Lecidea auriculata is known to enhance rock surface weathering on the Little Ice Age moraines of the glacier Storbreen in Jotunheimen, central southern Norway. This study demonstrates the reduction in Schmidt hammer Rvalues that followed the rapid colonization by this lichen of pyroxene‐granulite boulders on terrain deglaciated over the last 88 years. In the absence of this lichen, the characteristic mean R‐value of boulder surfaces is 61.0 ± 0.3; where this lichen is present, R‐values are lower by at least 20 units on surfaces exposed for 30–40 years. A similar reduction in rock hardness on rock surfaces without a lichen cover requires about 10 ka. The rapid initial weakening of the rock surfaces is indicative of rates of biological weathering by endolithic lichens that may be two orders of magnitude (200–300 times) faster than rates of physico‐chemical weathering alone. If not avoided, the effects of this type of lichen are likely to negate the effectiveness of the Schmidt hammer and other methods for exposure‐age dating, including cosmogenic‐nuclide dating, in severe alpine and polar periglacial environments. The results also suggest a new method for dating rock surfaces exposed for <50 years.     

Rhizocarpon calibration curve for the Aoraki/Mount Cook area of New Zealand

Development of Rhizocarpon growth curve from the Aoraki/Mount Cook area of New Zealand provides a means to assess Little Ice Age glacier behaviour and suggests approaches that have wider application. Employing a sampling strategy based on large populations affords the opportunity to assess which of various metrics (e.g. single largest, average of five largest, mean of an entire population) best characterise Rhizocarpon growth patterns. The 98% quantile from each population fitted with a quadric curve forms a reliable representation of the growth pattern. Since this metric does not depend on the original sample size, comparisons are valid where sample strategy must be adapted to local situations or where the original sample size differs. For the Aoraki/Mount Cook area a surface 100 years old will have a 98% quantile lichen diameter of 34.3 mm, whereas a 200‐year‐old surface will have a lichen diameter of 73.7 mm. In the Southern Alps, constraints from the age range of calibration points, the flattening of the quadric calibration curve and ecological factors limit the useful age range to approximately 250 years. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Localized Weathering: Implications for Theoretical and Applied Studies

In situ quantification of localized weathering processes on basalt flows in New Mexico and Hawaii demonstrates that small‐area factors can be more important than other more readily observable factors. Further, it demonstrates that the factorial concept of the Pope Boundary‐Layer weathering model is partially solvable, that organic weathering can accentuate glass weathering (with implications for climate models and storage of nuclear waste), and that silica coatings are not a simple solution for the preservation of stone monuments. Enhancement of glass weathering by lichens on the McCartys flow, El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico, remains restricted to a half‐millimeter directly underneath the lichen‐covered surface. In contrast, although the inorganic rock coating of silica glaze reduces weathering directly underneath the coating by up to nine times rates found in uncoated locales, silica glaze can almost double variability in weathering along its margins.     

Lead isotopes in lacustrine sediments and lichen transplants, contrasting and complimentary indicators of sources

The isotopic composition of lead has proven a powerful tool for the characterization of the types of its sources, and with other information on their identity. Lead is dispersed in the environment through water courses or airborne particulates, and has serious impact on the natural and human environments. Lake sediments record deposition derived mainly from its catchment while lichen represents the fine-grained atmospheric deposition of the site. The records of deposition differ in the scales of grain size, time and space. This investigation aims at comparing and contrasting these two types of records in an area affected essentially by a single visible emission source, and to improve the understanding of the controls on the formation of these records. The visible source is a Cu smelter complex with mining installations within the town of Karabash, in the southern Ural Mountains of Russia and considered one of the most heavily polluted areas in the world.