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Epiphytic Fern (epiphytic + fern)
Selected AbstractsEpiphytic ferns and bryophytes of Tasmanian tree-ferns: A comparison of diversity and composition between two host speciesAUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2005NINA R. ROBERTS Abstract Ferns, bryophytes and lichens are the most diverse groups of plants in wet forests in south-eastern Australia. However, management of this diversity is limited by a lack of ecological knowledge of these groups and the difficulty in identifying species for non-experts. These problems may be alleviated by the identification and characterization of suitable proxies for this diversity. Epiphytic substrates are potential proxies. To evaluate the significance of some epiphytic substrates, fern and bryophyte assemblages on a common tree-fern species, Dicksonia antarctica (soft tree-fern), were compared with those on a rare species, Cyathea cunninghamii (slender tree-fern), in eastern Tasmania, Australia. A total of 97 fern and bryophyte species were recorded on D. antarctica from 120 trunks at 10 sites, and 64 species on C. cunninghamii from 39 trunks at four of these sites. The trunks of C. cunninghamii generally supported fewer species than D. antarctica, but two mosses (particularly Hymenodon pilifer) and one liverwort showed significant associations with this host. Several other bryophytes and epiphytic ferns showed an affinity for the trunks of D. antarctica. Species assemblages differed significantly between both sites and hosts, and the differences between hosts varied significantly among sites. The exceptionally high epiphytic diversity associated with D. antarctica suggests that it plays an important ecological role in Tasmanian forests. Evidently C. cunninghamii also supports a diverse suite of epiphytes, including at least one specialist species. [source] Ants mediate nitrogen relations of an epiphytic fernNEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 1 2008James E. Watkins Jr First page of article [source] Factors Affecting the Distribution and Abundance of Asplenium nidus L. in a Tropical Lowland Rain Forest in Peninsular MalaysiaBIOTROPICA, Issue 4 2010Liwen Zhang ABSTRACT Asplenium nidus is an abundant epiphytic fern of tropical rain forests in the Old World, where it plays an important ecological role in the forest canopy as host to diverse arthropod communities. We investigated the factors that determine the distribution and abundance of A. nidus in the canopy of an aseasonal lowland dipterocarp forest at Pasoh Forest Reserve, Malaysia. We found that A. nidus was more abundant in the understory, and on hosts with smooth bark and relatively flat branch angles. Ferns were found on a wide diversity and size range of host taxa. However, both host taxa and host diameter at breast height had a significant effect on A. nidus occupancy. Asplenium nidus had an aggregated spatial distribution at all scales within the study area. Spatial aggregation at larger scales appears to be driven by habitat preference, as A. nidus abundance was positively associated with swampy areas and negatively associated with hilly areas. At smaller scales, limited dispersal of their wind-dispersed spores most likely explains the aggregated distribution. Larger individuals occurred higher in the canopy and were more common in the hilly area. Thus, the distribution of A. nidus may represent a trade-off between the availability of suitable microsites for establishment in the understory and better growth conditions higher in the canopy. However, A. nidus is known to comprise a complex of cryptic species, and future studies should incorporate molecular techniques to elucidate the potential role of speciation in explaining these patterns. Abstract in Malaysian is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/btp [source] Power to detect trends in ecological indicators in the East Usambara Mountains, TanzaniaAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2003William D. Newmark Abstract We evaluated the statistical power of monitoring protocols to detect, over a 10-year period, trends in indices of abundance of primates, hornbills and forest interior dung beetles and growth rates of epiphytic ferns in the Amani Nature Reserve, in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. Local technicians are responsible for the day-to-day gathering of data. The existing monitoring protocols for blue monkey, silver-cheeked hornbills, trumpeter hornbills, forest interior dung beetles and Asplenium nidus have sufficient statistical power (>0.80) to detect trends of 65% or less over a 10-year period. Monitoring protocols for black and white colobus and Asplenium holstii have lower statistical power (<0.80). We therefore conclude that the majority of monitoring protocols of the East Usambara Ecological Monitoring Project have the capacity both logistically and statistically to detect long-term trends in important functional groups in the East Usambara Mountains. Résumé Nous avons évalué le pouvoir prédictif des protocoles de surveillance continue pour détecter, sur une période de 10 ans, la tendance des indices d'abondance des primates, des calaos et des bousiers de forêt, et des taux de croissance des fougères épiphytes dans la Réserve Nature d'Amani, dans les East Usambara Mountains, en Tanzanie. Des techniciens locaux sont responsables de la récolte quotidienne des données. Les protocoles actuels de surveillance continue des cercopithèques à diadème, des calaos Ceratogymna brevis et Cerratogymna bucinator, des bousiers de forêt et d'Asplenium nidus ont un pouvoir prédictif suffisant (>0.80) pour déceler des tendances de 65% ou moins sur 10 ans. Les protocoles de surveillance continue du colobe blanc et noir et d'Asplenium holstii ont un pouvoir prédictif plus faible (<0.80). Nous avons donc conclu que la majorité des protocoles de surveillance continue du Projet de Surveillance Écologique Continue des East Usambara avaient les capacités logistique et statistique, de déceler des tendances à long terme de groupes fonctionnels importants dans les East Usambara Mountains. [source] Epiphytic ferns and bryophytes of Tasmanian tree-ferns: A comparison of diversity and composition between two host speciesAUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2005NINA R. ROBERTS Abstract Ferns, bryophytes and lichens are the most diverse groups of plants in wet forests in south-eastern Australia. However, management of this diversity is limited by a lack of ecological knowledge of these groups and the difficulty in identifying species for non-experts. These problems may be alleviated by the identification and characterization of suitable proxies for this diversity. Epiphytic substrates are potential proxies. To evaluate the significance of some epiphytic substrates, fern and bryophyte assemblages on a common tree-fern species, Dicksonia antarctica (soft tree-fern), were compared with those on a rare species, Cyathea cunninghamii (slender tree-fern), in eastern Tasmania, Australia. A total of 97 fern and bryophyte species were recorded on D. antarctica from 120 trunks at 10 sites, and 64 species on C. cunninghamii from 39 trunks at four of these sites. The trunks of C. cunninghamii generally supported fewer species than D. antarctica, but two mosses (particularly Hymenodon pilifer) and one liverwort showed significant associations with this host. Several other bryophytes and epiphytic ferns showed an affinity for the trunks of D. antarctica. Species assemblages differed significantly between both sites and hosts, and the differences between hosts varied significantly among sites. The exceptionally high epiphytic diversity associated with D. antarctica suggests that it plays an important ecological role in Tasmanian forests. Evidently C. cunninghamii also supports a diverse suite of epiphytes, including at least one specialist species. [source] | ||||||||||