MACROLICHEN COMMUNITY STRUCTURE in BOREAL FORESTED WETLANDS on the ISLAND of NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA by © Tegan Alienor Florence P

MACROLICHEN COMMUNITY STRUCTURE in BOREAL FORESTED WETLANDS on the ISLAND of NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA by © Tegan Alienor Florence P

MACROLICHEN COMMUNITY STRUCTURE IN BOREAL FORESTED WETLANDS ON THE ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA By © Tegan Alienor Florence Padgett A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Biology Memorial University of Newfoundland May 2019 St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador ABSTRACT Forested wetlands provide important ecosystem services and vital habitat for numerous organisms. Epiphytic macrolichens are a common and abundant group of organisms in forested wetlands and, given their habitat specificity, they are of potential use as indicators of forested wetlands and spatial boundaries. However, little is known about the community structure of macrolichens in forested wetlands. To address this, I first tested for differences in macrolichen communities and habitat associations between wetlands and ecoregions. I found significant differences between forested wetland classes and ecoregions and identified potential indicator species. Second, I tested for differences in macrolichen communities among swamps, ecotones, and adjacent upland forests. I found that macrolichen community richness and diversity were highest in swamps and lowest in upland forests, and that macrolichen communities were significantly different among swamps, upland forests, and their ecotones. The results of this research highlight the potential use of macrolichens as indicators of forested wetlands and their spatial boundaries. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my supervisor Dr. Yolanda Wiersma for providing support, guidance, and giving me independence to figure out my way. I also thank my committee members, Dr. Karen Harper and Dr. Carissa Brown, for their feedback and expertise. Also, thanks go to my field assistants John Godfrey and Brian Ronayne for all their hard work, and the Landscape Ecology and Spatial Analysis lab members for general support and feedback. A big thank you is due to Travis Heckford for editing, maps, and support throughout this time. I thank the Nature Conservancy of Canada for allowing me access to their land for research purposes, and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador for issuing permits and allowing me to use Salmonier Nature Park for accommodations and land for research. Jean Granger and Dr. Bahram Salehi provided wetland information and Mac Pitcher assisted with lichen identification. Mac Pitcher and Laura Park also provided accommodations. Finally, I thank the funding received through Graduate Studies Fellowships and Teaching Assistantships at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Department of Biology, as well a grant from the American Bryological and Lichenological Society. This work was funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada Atlantic Ecosystems Initiatives and supported by Dr. Wiersma’s NSERC grant. ii Table of Contents ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... v List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii List of Appendices .............................................................................................................. ix Chapter 1 Introduction and Overview .................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Study Areas ................................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Chapter Objectives and Hypotheses ........................................................................... 6 1.4 References .................................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Co-authorship Statement .......................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2 Macrolichen community composition and habitat associations in boreal forested wetlands ............................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Abstract .................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 12 2.3 Methods .................................................................................................................... 14 2.3.1 Study Areas ........................................................................................................ 14 2.3.2 Site Selection ..................................................................................................... 17 2.3.3 Study Design ...................................................................................................... 17 2.3.4 Data Analysis ..................................................................................................... 19 2.4 Results ...................................................................................................................... 21 2.5 Discussion ................................................................................................................ 29 2.6 References ................................................................................................................ 33 Chapter 3 Macrolichen richness, diversity, and composition in boreal forested swamps, ecotones, and upland forests .............................................................................................. 38 3.1 Abstract .................................................................................................................... 38 3.2 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 39 3.3 Methods .................................................................................................................... 41 iii 3.3.1 Study Areas ........................................................................................................ 41 3.3.2 Site Selection ..................................................................................................... 43 3.3.3 Study Design ...................................................................................................... 43 3.3.4 Data Analysis ..................................................................................................... 45 3.4 Results ...................................................................................................................... 47 3.5 Discussion ................................................................................................................ 55 3.6 References ................................................................................................................ 57 Chapter 4 Summary ........................................................................................................... 60 4.1 Summary of Results ................................................................................................. 60 4.2 Limitations ............................................................................................................... 62 4.3 Conservation Implications and Future Research ...................................................... 64 4.4 References ................................................................................................................ 66 Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 68 iv List of Tables Table 2-1. Characteristics of the three forested wetland classes (bog, fen, swamp) including soil pH, canopy closure, the dominant tree species in the plot, and the dominant vegetation in the shrub and ground layer. ANOVAs were used to compare means with the significance set at α = 0.05. ................................................................................................ 22 Table 2-2. Macrolichen thalli count by forested wetland class and ecoregion with relative abundance (%) in brackets. ................................................................................................ 23 Table 2-3. Explanatory variable vectors fitted to the non-metric multidimensional (NMDS) scaling analysis plot. The number of permutations was 999 and the significance level was α = 0.05. The NMDS 1 and 2 columns give the cosines of the vectors, and the R2 values give the squared correlation coefficient. DBH = diameter at breast height. ...... 27 Table 2-4. Results from the non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance (perMANOVA) using Bray-Curtis distance with 999 permutations and a square-root transformed distance matrix. Data were modified to have a balanced design by averaging the Central Newfoundland sites together and significance was α = 0.05. ......................... 27 Table 2-5. Significant associations of macrolichens with forested wetlands and ecoregions (maximum habitat association); the observed Indicator Values show the strength of the association, along with a p-value (α = 0.05). ............................................

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