Lichen uses - potentials of the European Guideline for mapping lichen diversity David Svoboda My projects had one common feature, namely the application of the European Guideline for mapping lichen diversity as an indicator of environmental stress (Asta et al. 2002). This methodology was developed in an effort to make a standardised protocol for European screening of epiphytic lichens for various purposes. The dissertation is focused on selected topics and the main objectives can be summarised as follows: 1) To evaluate the potential of the LDV method for determination of general air pollution, and the possibility of applying the new methodology in the Czech Republic. 2) To compare results given by the LDV method and the older qualitative method by Hawksworth and Rose (1970). 3) To determine the principal factors influencing the epiphytic lichen distribution in Central European oak forests, and to elucidate possible correlations among natural and human caused environmental factors in a large scale study. 4) To investigate the epiphytic lichens living in temperate oak forests, their features and possible lichenological differentiations; to determine indicative species for old growth forests and natural woodlands under different climatic conditions and human influence in the Central Europe. 5) To determine...

Epiphytic lichens are under considerable grazing pressure due to invertebrate lichenivores, mostly gastropods. Preferences of tree-climbing gastropods affect vertical distribution of lichens, their habitat preferences and whole area of distribution. Higher grazing pressure is expected on sites with basic subsoil and sufficient sources of calcium, where the abundance of gastropods is higher. Most of researches about the topic of grazing pressure were therefore conducted on such sites, although this hypothesis has never been formally tested. Epiphytic communities are also affected by pH and other properties specific to its photophyte. Nevertheless, it is not known, if the same applies for grazing gastropods and how is the grazing pressure affected by tree species. I have addressed these questions in my thesis. I set an 80-days-long field transplantation experiment in the mixed forest of Moravský kras (South Moravia, Czech Republic). Glass fiber meshes with lichen thalli were placed on sixty trunks of three tree species (Carpinus betulus - hornbeam, Abies alba - fir, Fagus sylvatica - common beech) on both calcareous (limestone) and acidic (granodiorite) sites. Abundance and diversity of gastropods were measured. Determined grazing pressure was higher than pressure detected by other authors and was...