The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and British Lichen Society have made available a toolkit in which lichenologists can explore the consequences of climate change at a site-scale, for 382 lichen epiphyte species. A value of ‘environmental suitability’ can be compared for individual species, or across an assemblage of epiphytes, between the present-day and the 2050s and 2080s based on Met Office climate models. This effect of climate change can be modified by woodland composition in order to account for stand-scale changes, such as might occur under a tree disease scenario. The toolkit is accompanied by a Quick Guide and Technical Report, and also features in the British Lichen Society Bulletin for Sumer 2014.
Note that the toolkit is best applied to regions of northern Britain, and is expected to be less accurate for southern England where future climate analogues lie outside British climate space.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO VISIT THE LICHEN EPIPHYTIC SCENARIOS WEBSITE
.png)