Project in the picture
This project aims to gain insight into the distribution, colonisation and re-colonization of epiphytic lichens in response to the change in air pollutant emissions and in climate across a continental gradient in Central and northern Europe.
Why?
Lichens are highly sensitive towards environmental factors, owing to their symbiotic nature and the missing cuticle, and they are therefore used for biomonitoring. In many parts of Europe, the reduction in sulphuric emissions and the increase in nitrogen has locally led to a less acidophytic and more nitrophytic lichen species composition. The response of lichens towards changes in climate is much quicker than that of higher plants, as their dispersal is mostly facilitated by wind. The ongoing changes in climate are accompanied by an increase in lichen species that were previously only known from Mediterranean or tropical regions. This project aims to investigate the spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of especially these immigrating species and to provide information on the influence of air pollution on different forms of epiphytic lichens. Additionally, we want to extend the basic knowledge on the species distribution on selected tree species in Europe, as information on lichens is generally scarce. We attempt to promote lichen surveys for monitoring the effects of climate change and pollution on biological systems.
How?
Almost 1,000 trees of the genera Quercus and Tilia in seven cities (Amiens, Ghent, Bremen, Potsdam, Lund, Linköping, Stockholm) along a climatic gradient are intended to be monitored on their epiphytic lichen flora, using the German VDI 3957 part 13 and 20 methods. About 840 trees will be observed in the city centres for assessing the effect of climate change, and more than 100 trees will be monitored along an urban-rural-gradient (from the CoolTree project, along the climatic gradient) to examine the effects of air pollution, especially with a focus on nitrogen pollution.
Who?
This PhD project is conducted by Verena Wutz under the supervision of Martin Diekmann at the University of Bremen and Ute Windisch at the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen in collaboration with the FLEUR network.