Is it common to be rare on the landscape? A test using a novel model system

Wiersma, YolandaF.; McMullin, R.T.

Is it common to be rare on the landscape? A test using a novel model system

2018

Wiersma, YolandaF. | McMullin, R.T.

CONTEXT: Understanding how rare species are distributed can be difficult due to heterogeneity between landscape units. Lack of statistical replication of landscapes can make it difficult to carry out testing. Model systems may be a solution. OBJECTIVES: We test whether lichen thalli along the trunk of a tree are analogous to habitat patches in a kilometers-extent landscape and hence can function as a model system. This model system allows for increased statistical power. We use this system to test whether landscapes with rare species are different from those without. METHODS: We sampled macrolichen diversity along the trunk of 24 balsam fir trees in a stand on the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada, along with microclimate variables. We analysed difference in pattern by aspect and along the gradient of 1 m up the trunk as well as between trees containing the rare Erioderma pedicellatum and those without. RESULTS: We found no difference in total patch richness or abundance between the micro-landscapes. We found significantly consistent patterns in lichen patches along the trunk. These patterns were similar on the trees with the rare species. Lichen species richness did not differ between trees containing the rare species versus those that did not. CONCLUSIONS: Lichen patch pattern is statistically similar between trees and as such, these can be considered as replicate landscape units. Thus, landscape ecologists can use micro-landscapes as model systems to conduct observational and manipulative experiments to test questions about spatial pattern and process, such as those concerning distribution of rare species.

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