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Decomposition of Species of Pseudocyphellaria and Sticta in a Southern Chilean Forest*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2007

G. Guzman ,
W. Quilhot  and
D. J. Galloway
G. Guzman
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Playa Ancha de Ciencias de la Education, Casilla 34-V, Valparaiso, Chile.
W. Quilhot
Affiliation:
Escuela de Quimica y Farmacia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valparaiso, Casilla 92-V, Valparaiso, Chile.
D. J. Galloway
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
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Abstract

The annual rate of lichen decomposition was measured in a mixed, cool temperate rainforest in Puyehue National Park, southern Chile. Five macrolichens, Pseudocyphellaria berberina, P. divutsa, P. glabra, P. nitida and Sticta hypochra, and bamboo leaves (Chusquaea macrostachya) were used as experimental material. Rates of decomposition are high in all lichen species and ranged from k = 0·45 to 2·79. Lichens with hopane triterpenoids {P. divulsa and P. glabra) were more resistant to decomposition. The contribution of these lichens to the nutrient economy of the rainforest ecosystem is highly significant, as they are both abundant in terms of biomass and have a rapid turnover.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Lichenologist , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , July 1990 , pp. 325 - 331
Copyright
Copyright © British Lichen Society 1990

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Footnotes

*

Dedicated to Peter James, on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

References

* Dedicated to Peter James, on the occasion of his 60th birthday.