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Seasonal acclimation in the epiphytic lichen Parmelia sulcata is influenced by change in photobiont population density

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Abstract

CO2 gas exchange, radial growth, chlorophyll (Chl) content and photobiont density of an epiphytic population of Parmelia sulcata were monitored every 2 months during 1 year in a temperate deciduous forest of Central Italy, to verify possible seasonal variations. Light response curves of south-exposed thalli, built up in the laboratory at 6 and 27°C at optimal thallus hydration, showed that CO2 gas exchange changed significantly during the year, with a maximum for gross photosynthesis in December at both temperatures. Photoinhibition phenomena occurred in early spring, immediately before tree leaves sprouted. The principal component analysis of CO2 gas exchange parameters clearly separated the months with from the months without tree canopy cover. Radial growth, measured on marginal lobes of north- and south-exposed thalli, was the highest in December, and the lowest in April. Photobiont density, measured in lobes of south- and north-exposed thalli with a sedimentation chamber, also changed during the year: the number of photobionts was highest in June and December, and lowest in April, although no significant change in cell size and Chl content per cell was evident throughout the year. South-exposed thalli had slightly, but constantly higher photobiont density both on a weight and an area basis. The acclimation of lichen photosynthesis and Chl content to seasonal temperature and light changes should partially be re-visited on the basis of the significant variation in photobiont population density. This phenomenon still awaits, however, a satisfactory explanation, although it is probably related to the seasonal change in nutrient availability.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Paola Crisafulli and Laurence Baruffo (Trieste, Italy) for help in carrying out CO2 gas exchange measurements, Elena Pittao (Trieste) for assistance with the figures, Massimo Bidussi (Ås, Norway) and Paolo Giordani (Genova, Italy) for critical remarks on a first draft of the manuscript. We thank ENEL GreenPower for providing the meteorological data of Fig. 1. The study received D.T.N. (f.o.o.p.) funds from the junior author.

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  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127, Trieste, Italy

    Mauro Tretiach, Stefano Bertuzzi & Fabio Candotto Carniel

  2. Dipartimento di Udine, ARPA Friuli Venezia Giulia, Via Colugna 42, 33100, Udine, Italy

    Damiano Virgilio

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  1. Mauro Tretiach
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  2. Stefano Bertuzzi
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  3. Fabio Candotto Carniel
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  4. Damiano Virgilio
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Correspondence to Mauro Tretiach.

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Communicated by Hermann Heilmeier.

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Tretiach, M., Bertuzzi, S., Candotto Carniel, F. et al. Seasonal acclimation in the epiphytic lichen Parmelia sulcata is influenced by change in photobiont population density. Oecologia 173, 649–663 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2654-3

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