Lichen diversity in Iberian beech forests, a tool to assess environmental status

Abstract

Beech forests from the NE of the Iberian Peninsula have been enduring such management conditions, together with agricultural land use, that epiphytic lichen communities have remained in primal states of succession. Additionally, perturbations have promoted the increase in species linked to eutrophy and xerophily. The use of the criterium of naturality does not give a real view on environmental quality of examined forests, because the increase in diversity resulted from species enhanced by perturbations. On the other hand, the application of a criterium based on the abundancy of eutrophic species, used as a proxy of disturbances, has resulted in a more accurated evaluation of real situation.