Nitrogen Fixing Lichens in Forests of the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina
Becker VE. 1980. Nitrogen Fixing Lichens in Forests of the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. The Bryologist. 83(1):29-39
The abundance and species diversity of nitrogen fixing lichens were determined for several forests of the southern Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. Gray beech forests of wet, high-elevation beech gaps were auspicious locations for these lichens. The bark of Aesculus octandra Marshal was the optimum habitat, particularly for the dominants Lobaria quercizans Michx. and Lobaria pulmonaria (L.) Hoffm. Lichen biomass in this gray beech forest commonly ranged from 7 to 9 kg ha-1 but was higher where Aesculus octandra was abundant. Lichens were less abundant in oak forests and cove forests, and none was found on conifers. The annual contribution of ammonia nitrogen by lichens was roughly estimated to be 0.8 kg ha-1 for the gray beech forest in beech gaps.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Becker, Veryl
- Units
- BLRI
- Keywords
- Plant Studies