Changes in the Composition and Richness of Epiphytic Macrolichens Within Cluj-Napoca City (Romania) Between 2000 and 2024
2025
Florin Crișan | Dan Gafta | Irina Goia
The present study is based on a follow-up of a survey carried out in 2000, consisting in the revisitation of ten sites, with the scope of assessing changes in the composition and richness of epiphytic macrolichens within Cluj-Napoca city over the past 24 years. Within this period most of the polluting factories from the city outskirts were closed but in turn, the number of registered cars increased almost six-fold. An increasing compositional homogenization by contribution of generalist, stress-tolerant species was detected over time while total lichen taxa richness declined, which is mostly imputable to the synergic effects of intense car traffic and warmer/drier summers. Most sites displayed a compositional change along a weak, mixed gradient of eutrophication and xerophitization. Only two sites (located on the windy, Someș valley bottom) experienced a compositional change from higher to lower trophicity levels. Other two sites (positioned on more sheltered hillsides) displayed unfavourable dynamics in terms of lost species. Unexpectedly, the number of epiphytic lichen taxa at site level has, on average, increased over time, but the main contributors were poleotolerant species. The warming trend, due to climate change and local heat sources, is expected to worsen the negative effects of air-borne pollutants on the composition of the epiphytic lichen species pool within the Cluj-Napoca urban area.
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