6.3.2019: Juri Nascimbene (Bologna): Exploring the effects of global change and habitat modification on lichen diversity, HS 31.11, Institut für Biologie, Bereich Pflanzenwissenschaften, Schubertstraße 51, 18.15 Uhr
Rapid global change is threatening biodiversity globally, interactively exacerbating the impacts of other relevant drivers of biodiversity loss, as in the case of habitat modification associated with agriculture.
This scenario fully applies to lichens, whose poikilohydric nature determines a close relationship between eco-physiology and climatic conditions and a strong sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbance. Results of our research indicate that global change is rapidly affecting lichen diversity in many ways, simultaneously interacting with local processes that involve habitat modification. In a number of studies across Italy, spanning climatic and anthropogenic gradients, we detected the lichen response in terms of richness loss, compositional and functional shifts, floristic homogenization, habitat suitability reduction, decoupling between epiphytes and substrate, indicating that many species may soon experience local extinction. While lichens greatly contribute to ecosystem biodiversity and functioning, they are still receiving little consideration in conservation policies and hopefully our results could contribute to increase public awareness on their fate.