Oaks (Quercus robur) can reach a considerable age, which makes them an important substrate for many epiphytic lichens, including several red-listed species. We studied the importance of tree size and other environmental factors for the occurrence of six epiphytic lichens at two sites, in southeastern Sweden, differing in quality as judged by tree size distribution and number of old trees. The effects of tree circumference, light availability, trunk inclination and site were analysed. Results showed that different lichen species responded differently to these factors, but, overall, tree size was most important for lichen occurrence. Five species showed a positive relation to tree size, but the 50% probability of occurrence was reached at different tree sizes among these species and there were also site differences. This study shows that the maintenance of old trees is crucial for several lichen species, which highlights the importance of long-term management plans.

Lichens are an important group of organisms in terms of environmental issues, conservation biology and biodiversity, since lichens are sensitive to changes in their environment. Therefore it is important that we develop our understanding of the factors that affect lichen distribution. In this thesis both spatial and temporal distributions of epiphytic lichens at different scales have been studied in southern Sweden.

Brokind was chosen as the study site to investigate the succession of epiphytic lichens on Quercus robur using a chronosequencial approach. Fourteen of the investigated taxa out of 50 proved to be significant. The taxa were divided into three groups according to whether they occurred on young, middle-aged or old trees.

Generation length of the red-listed lichen Cliostomum corrugatum was examined using Bjärka-Säby as the study site. The results showed that the average age of an individual of C. corrugatum is 25–30 years at the onset of spore production.

Generation length of the red-listed lichen Cliostomum corrugatum was examined using Bjärka-Säby as the study site. The results showed that the average age of an individual of C. corrugatum is 25–30 years at the onset of spore production.

The rarity of C. corrugatum was also examined. DNA of an intron from 85 samples, collected at five sites in Östergötland, yielded 11 haplotypes. Results from the coalescent analysis, mantel test and AMOVA indicated that C. corrugatum have a high ability to disperse. The study concluded that its rarity is most likely connected with the low amount of available habitat, old Q. robur.

The changes in the distribution of epiphytic lichens in southern Sweden between 1986 and 2003 were compared. For each year a centroid was calculated on all combinations of tree and lichen species. The three significant cases showed that the centroid movement pointed toward a north-east or north-north-east direction.

Regional gradients of abundance and size of Hypogymnia physodes at 66 sites in southern Sweden were examined. The coordinate system rotating the reference system of investigated sites around the origin was used to search for the best explanatory power for the angle of the explanatory variables. The results showed a gradient of increase in the probability of occurrence in a north-north-east direction and an increase in diameter on thallus size in a west-north-west direction.

Lichens are an important group of organisms in terms of environmental issues, conservation biology and biodiversity, principally due to their sensitivity to changes in their environment. Therefore it is important that we develop our understanding of the factors that affect lichen distribution. In this thesis, both spatial and temporal distributions of epiphytic lichens at different scales have been studied in southern Sweden.

Generation time of the red-listed lichen Cliostomum corrugatum was examined using Bjärka-Säby as the study site. The results showed that the average age of an individual of C. corrugatum is 25–30 years at the onset of spore production.

The rarity of C. corrugatum was also examined. DNA analysis of an intron from 85 samples, collected at five sites in Östergötland, yielded 11 haplotypes. Results from coalescent analysis, mantel test and AMOVA indicated that C. corrugatum have a high ability to disperse. The study concluded that its rarity is most likely connected with the low amount of available habitat, old Quercus robur.

The changes in the distribution of epiphytic lichens in southern Sweden, between 1986 and 2003, were also compared. For each year a centroid was calculated on all combinations of tree and lichen species. The three significant cases showed that the centroid movement pointed toward a north-east or north-north-east direction.

Finally differences in species richness and cover of lichens on large Q. robur were examined between urban and rural environment. The results demonstrated that species number and percent cover was significantly higher on oaks standing rural compared to oaks standing urban. Effects of urban sprawl showed a decline in species richness and cover with increasing age of the surrounding buildings.

Biodiversity often suffers from urbanization. In the present study, we focused on how the duration of urbanization affects the richness of 17 epiphytic lichen species and their cover on large oaks in urban environments in a city of 100 000 inhabitants in southeast Sweden. We also surveyed trees in adjacent rural areas, selected to have similar distributions of tree trunk circumference and surrounding oak density (within 300 m). Lichen richness and cover were lower on urban trees compared to rural trees. Furthermore, richness and cover decreased with the length of time that urban trees had been surrounded by houses. Most of the species that were analysed demonstrated a decline in occurrence with respect to the duration of housing development. The reduction in the probability of occurrence varied from 60% (Calicium viride, Evernia prunastri), 80% (Chrysothrix candelaris) to 90% (Ramalina spp.) during the considered 160-year period of urbanization. Therefore, even if valuable trees survive over the course of development, their lichen biota is likely to become depleted over time. © 2014 The Authors.

Biodiversity often suffers from urbanisation. In the present study, we focused on how the age of urbanisation affects the richness of 17 epiphytic lichens species and their cover on large oaks, with a minimum spacing of 250 m, in urban environments in the city of Linköping (100,000 inhabitants), SE Sweden. We also surveyed trees in adjacent rural areas, selected to have similar distributions of tree trunk circumference and oak density within 300 m. Lichen richness and cover were significantly lower on urban trees compared to rural trees. Furthermore, richness and cover decreased with the length of time that urban trees had been surrounded by houses. Roughly one species is lost every 30 years. Most of the species that were analysed demonstrated a drop in occurrence with respect to the duration of housing development. The reduction in the probability of occurrence varied from 60% (Calicium viride, Evernia prunastri), 80% (Chrysotrix candelaris) to 90% (Ramalina spp.) during the 160-year period of urbanisation considered. Therefore, even if valuable trees survive over the course of development, their lichen flora are likely to become depleted over time.

The objective was to investigate at what the age specimen of Cliostomum corrugatum become fertile in order to estimate the time span between the meiosis events. The species has its main distribution in Europe but has also been found on the west coast of British Columbia and is red listed, e.g., in Sweden (nearly threatened), Denmark, Germany and England. In the province of Östergötland, southern Sweden it is most frequent on old Quercus robur trees in open oak forest or meadows. I may also be found on other deciduous trees as Ulmus and Fraxinus species. It is mainly groving on the flat terminal parts of the rough bark of the tree trunks and not on the sides of the cracks. Cliostomum corrugatum does not grow on young oak trees. The smallest tree trunk diameter with Cliostomum corrugatum was is 0.65 m, a tree of at least 100 years of age. On two localities in Östergötland all oaks were studied and the size of the trees and the size of the largest thallus of Cliostomum corrugatum were recorded. Out of this data the size of how small a tree can possibly be for hosting Cliostomum corrugatum. This estimate was compared with the size of the smallest thalli with apothecia and the size of trees on which these appeared. With knowledge of the peripheral secondary growth of oaks it was possible to estimate the age of the youngest fertile Cliostomum corrugatum to about 30 years. Thus, equal to the time span between two meiosis events.

The objective of this study was to estimate the dispersal rate in an organism assumed to be confined to tree stands with unbroken continuity. We used the lichen-forming ascomycete Cliostomum corrugatum, which is largely confined to old oak stands. Five populations, with pairwise distances ranging from 6.5 to 83 km, were sampled in Ostergotland, south-eastern Sweden. DNA sequence data from an intron in the small subunit nuclear ribosomal RNA gene was obtained from 85 samples. Nearly all molecular variance (99.6%) was found within populations and there were no signs of isolation-by-distance. The absolute number of immigrants per population per generation (estimated to 30 years), inferred by Bayesian MCMC, was found to be between 1 and 5. Altogether, evidence suggests abundant gene flow in the history of our sample. A simulation procedure demonstrated that we cannot know whether effective dispersal is ongoing or if it ceased at the time when oaks started to decrease dramatically around 400 years BP. However, a scenario where effective dispersal ceased already at the time when the postglacial reinvasion of oak had reached the region around 6000 years BP is unlikely. Vegetation history suggests that the habitat of C. corrugatum was patchily distributed in the landscape since the early Holocene. Combined with the high dispersal rate estimate, this suggests that the species has been successful at frequently crossing distances of at least several kilometres and possibly that it has primarily been limited by the availability of habitat rather than by dispersal.

The aim with this study is to determine genetic variation, dispersal potential and the migration history to Sweden since the last glaciation of the rare lichen Cliostomum corrugatum, a crustose epiphytic lichen with a grey greenish thallus,conspicuous light yellow to light brown apothecia and black pycnidia. Collections were made in January and February in 2005 at five sites in Östergötland, Sweden. The most frequent common habitat for Cliostomum corrugatumis on Quercus and sometimes also on other deciduous trees for example Ulmus and Fraxinus. On the tree trunk it is the rough bark it prefers and the flat terminal parts of the bark structure and not on the sides of the cracks. The main distribution of Cliostomum corrugatum is in Europe but a satellite population has been found on the west coast of North American in British Columbia. It is red listed in Sweden, with the status near threatened. Three sequences SSUintron, IGS and ITS were studied and the two latter appear to lack genetic variation. A total of 85 sequences with a length of 614 base pairs were studied of a rRNA SSU intron. Eleven haplotypes were detected, two was common 46 and 30 in numbers respectively and was present on all five localities the other nine were detected only once each. The two common haplotypes are in the centre of a rooted net work and the rare in the periphery. Cliostomum corrugatum does not seem to have problem with its dispersal. The limiting factor seems to be the occurrence big oaks. In the studied area the smallest tree trunk diameter that Cliostomum corrugatum was found on is 0,65 metre. The tree with the largest diameter in the research area is 1,65 metre. A tree that is 0,65 metre in diameter is at least 100 years old. Oaks of this age are scarce and this is one of the reasons for the rareness of Cliostomum corrugatum. When Cliostomum corrugatum colonized Sweden after the last ice age, all eleven haplotypes may already have existed. However, it is possible, that some haplotypes evolved after the migration to Östergötland.

Past studies on changes in species distribution have mainly been based on analysis of range boundaries. In contrast, the method used here evaluates shifts in species' geographic centroids within a predefined area. We used presence/absence data on epiphytic lichens collected 1986 and 2003 from 64 sites in southern Sweden. A centroid was calculated each year, for each lichen species and substrate. The distance of centroid movement was evaluated in a permutation procedure. In total, 56 lichen species on 22 tree species were involved in the analyses, yielding 30 cases that had sufficient sample sizes both years to be evaluated. Out of these, three exhibited a significant movement of their centroid. The shift of lichen centroids of Hypogymnia physodes (L.) Nyl. and Vulpicida pinastri (Scop.) J.-E. Mattsson & M. J. Lai on the tree species Juniperus communis L. was 50 and 151 km with the direction 27 degrees and 48 degrees, respectively. For Hypogymnia physodes on Pinus sylvestris L., corresponding values were 41 km and 30 degrees. The northnortheast shifts of these species in Sweden could be a response to a warming climate.

A relatively quick and simple method is presented for monitoring changes in distribution and in site and substratum preferences of epiphytic macrolichens; the method also records the natural turnover of common species. Changes in the epiphytic lichen flora in southern Sweden were recorded at 64 sites in 1986 and again in 2003. In total 1990 observations of lichens were recorded on 15 tree species, mainly on trunks but also on branches up to 2 in above the ground. Almost all species showed a high turnover with regard to substratum, including very abundant species such as Hypogymnia physodes. Many of the species had changed substratum within their sites, possibly reflecting a general change in the ecological quality of sites. Canonical Correspondence Analysis was used to extract the variation in species composition over time, using 1685 records of 55 lichen species on 8 different substrata. Some species such as Hypogymnia tubulosa had increased in abundance whilst others such as Vulpicida pinastri had decreased.