MTRI - Projects - Forest - Lichens
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What is so important about lichens?
Boreal felt lichen and other rare lichens of the coastal forest community are threatened by forestry practices and air pollution. The threat posed by forestry is largely due to lack of ability to detect the lichens presence and to predict where these lichens will occur. Little is known about which sources of air pollution pose the greatest threats and at what levels. Some progress from the forestry threat has been made in the last two years with the use of the GIS habitat algorithm to identify likely habitat. Since the GIS algorithm was developed in 2005, 22 new Boreal felt lichen locations were found and protected. Search time and effort is very high but could be reduced if the predictive ability of the algorithm was improved. This project focused on finding new rare lichen sites ; getting a better understanding of health of the population, habitat and level of threat; increasing awareness of at risk lichens in Nova Scotia and protecting existing Boreal felt lichen sites.
Project Objectives
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To improve the predictive ability of a GIS habitat algorithm to increase likelihood of finding Boreal felt lichen.
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To increase knowledge of habitat characteristics and severity of threats at Boreal felt lichen sites over time.
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To raise the profile of Nova Scotia’s rare lichens.
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To protect newly found Boreal felt lichen and at risk lichen sites through verbal landowner stewardship agreements.
Methods
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Sites predicted as likely habitat and adjacent areas were searched for the presence of Boreal felt lichen and other at risk lichens.
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GIS data on each searched site were collected and included forest cover, surficial geology, bedrock geology, climate, topography, soil drainage, soil texture, distance from wetland, distance from coast, and wetland density.
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All currently known sites of Boreal felt lichen were permanently marked for long-term monitoring.
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Data were collected on habitat parameters including trees species, tree heights, tree diameters, tree ages, crown cover, slope, aspect, soil drainage, ground cover and other parameters.
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When Boreal felt lichen sites were found the landowners were provided with information about lichens.
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A 4-day advanced Lichen Identification Workshop was held.
Results
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In 2008, Boreal felt lichen was identified at 10 sites. Three of these sites were found in Cape Breton where the lichen has not been found in over 20 years.
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A ‘super-tree’ was identified with over 50 thalli on one tree. The majority of Nova Scotia sites have only 1-2 thalli.
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Within the sites visited this year, 10 yellow listed and four red listed cyanolichen species were identified (as categorized under the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act).
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The new sites on Cape Breton Island are much more robust and healthy in appearance compared to those found on mainland Nova Scotia. The Cape Breton sites do not show signs of herbivory while on mainland Nova Scotia the majority of thalli have been grazed, likely by gastropods.
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Four of the newly identified Boreal felt lichen sites were found as a result of searches requested by companies intending to develop or harvest areas they knew to have potential habitat. This is an example of a successful collaboration between conservation researchers and forest companies and industry.
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Permission was obtained to collect a severely detached thallus. It was deposited at the Nova Scotia Museum by Frances Anderson, a Research Associate at the museum.
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The 4-day Lichen Identification Workshop was attended by 15 participants and instructed by Dr. David Richardson and Frances Anderson with assistance from Tom Neily and Harold Clapp.
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In 2007, 59 boreal felt lichen thalli were measured and permanently marked for long-term monitoring. In 2008, 57 of these thalli were revisited and an additional 14 other existing thalli were permanently marked. Fourty-three thalli were mature and 20 were juveniles. Three thalli have disappeared, four thalli were necrotic, and five thalli were loose or fractured.
Years of Data
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Ongoing project since 2006
Partners
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Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute
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Nova Scotia Department of Environment
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World Wildlife Fund Endangered Species Recovery Fund
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The Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk
