Dear Ecologgers:
Many people expressed an interest in seeing the answers sent to me
regarding moss and lichen monitoring techniques. So here they are. In
addition to the things below, I found a couple of useful resources on
my own, including:
Eldridge, D., S. Skinner and T. J. Entwisle. 2003. Survey guidelines
for non-vascular plants. Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney, Australia. 45
p. Retrieved from http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/SurveyGuideNon-VascularPlants.pdf
.
Kanda, H. and M. Inoue. 1994. Ecological monitoring of moss and lichen
vegetation in the Syowa Station Area, Antarctica. Proc. NIPR Symp.
Polar Biol. 7: 221-231.
M. E. Conti, G. Cecchetti, Biological monitoring: lichens as
bioindicators of air pollution assessment -- a review, Environmental
PollutionVolume 114, Issue 3, , October 2001, Pages 471-492.
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Repeat photography has been used in many cases to document slow
changes in
landscapes and using it for lichens and mosses seems idea. With the
advent
of digital photography, taking and collecting these images is even
easier.
The main difficulty is getting repeated points of view so the series of
images is comparable. Establishing locations on the rock where the
lichen
or moss occurs to place the legs of a standard (or re-used) tripod and
using
the same camera sequentially is one way to do this.
Attached is a (marginally-related) paper that we wrote on using color
changes in a moss to document water content and estimate photosynthesis.
This was accomplished by using a camera that was permanently mounted
at the
site and was involved in repeat photography.
NOTE FROM JENNIFER: I didn't include the attachment. Here is the
citation for it: E. Graham, M. Hamilton, B. Mishler, P. Rundel, and M.
Hanson. Use of a Networked Digital Camera to Estimate Net CO2 Uptake
of a Desiccation-Tolerant Moss. International Journal of Plant
Sciences, 167:751--758, 2006. You can contact Eric Graham at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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There is an excellent lichen monitoring resource I wanted to tell you
about, its pricey but definitely has tons of excellent information on
lichen monitoring in the US and Europe. Here is the citation:
Nimis PL, Scheidegger C, Wolseley PA, eds. 2002. Monitoring with
lichens - monitoring lichens. NATO Science Series IV - Environmental
Sciences vol. 7. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwar Academic
Publishers. 416 p.
I recently met with a ranger at a state park here in NC about starting
a lichen monitoring project and this book was very helpful. I think
that particular project is going to use a very simple methodology
(monitoring lichen growth forms, not species) which includes
tardigrade monitoring, since one of their major goals is to do
something that grade school children can get done in an afternoon at
the park.
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You might ask people at lichens-L.
http://www.mycology.net/Contacts/LichensL.html
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Geiser, LH and Neitlich, PN (2007). Air pollution and climate
gradients in Western Oregon and Washington indicated by epiphytic
macrolichens. Environmental Pollution 145: 203-218
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The USDA put out an excellent resource entitled "Lichens as
Bioindicators of Air Quality." March 1993, General Technical Report
RM-224, Laurie Stroh Huckaby, Ed., Rocky Mountain Forest and Range
Experiment Station.
Also, much work has been done with lichens in Eastern Europe. I
recommend you contact Tanja Mrak at:
Jožef Stefan Institute
Jamova 39
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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I did a report on the mosses for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park that
includes some higher elevation mosses. It is on the following link:
http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/duffy/techrep.htm
I only did presence/absence so I am also interested to see what people
suggest for more quantitative protocols.
Cheers,
Mashuri Waite
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I've heard of people using a specific sized picture frame (say
8x10), placing it over the same area every year (or sampling
interval), and then estimating percent cover of different species
within the frame (and taking a digital photo). If you could keep me
posted on what else you find out that would be great.
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There are some fairly well-tested methods in literature.
... things to think about - crust lichens are quite important on
rocks, as well as macrolichens, and it's difficult to distinguish,
much less identify, crust lichens in the field. Bryophytes are
difficult to distinguish in the field and also require identification
in the lab. The rock lichen studies I know of all were intensive
studies that surveyed taxa in quadrats on rocks in the field. You will
either need to have a cryptogam specialist (both lichens and
bryophytes) do the field inventories, collecting, and laboratory
identification, or you will need to work with a specialist to design a
new protocol for field inventories and collecting by trained non-
experts, followed by laboratory identification by a specialist.
It would really help if you explicitly write down these things:
1. Exactly what is the purpose(s) for your proposed inventory and
monitoring? Are their particular observed problems to address?
2. Monitoring implies repeat sampling. How extensively do you think
you might want to inventory, and how often might you contemplate
repeat sampling.
3. What sort of budget do you envision would realistically be
available, or could you ask for? What is the expertise of your own in-
house personnel, and/or other researchers you know NPS has worked with
before in Hawaii?
Here are some names that I can recall. Mason Hale did surveys on
rocks in the 1960s at high elevations in the US Rockies, Janet Marsh
studied lichen communities on rocks in the Canadian Rockies (not so
high), ~ the 1980's, if you want to look them up. Here are a couple of
references including methods for assessing cryptogams on rocks that I
could find quickly.
John, E.A. 1989. An assessment of the role of biotic interactions and
dynamic processes in the organization of species in a saxicolous
lichen community. Canadian Journal of Botany 67(7): 2025-2037.
Matthes, U., Ryan, B.D. & Larson, D.W. 2000. Community structure of
epilithic lichens on the cliffs of the
Niagara Escarpment, Ontario, Canada. Plant Ecology 148: 233-244.
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Hope that this is informative.
Jennifer
**********************************
Jennifer Garrison, PhD
Natural Resources Management Specialist
Sustainable Resources Group Intn'l Inc.
111 Hekili Street, Suite A373
Kailua, HI 96734
Mobile: (808) 954-9112
Office/Fax: (808) 356-0552
Web: www.srgii.com
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
