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More tolerant than expected: Taking into account the ability of Cladonia portentosa to cope with increased nitrogen availability in environmental policy

More tolerant than expected: Taking into account the ability of Cladonia portentosa to cope with increased nitrogen availability in environmental policy

Authors :
Luca Bini
Lucy J. Sheppard
Luigi Parrotta
Ian D. Leith
Claudia Faleri
Cristina Branquinho
Cristina Cruz
Giampiero Cai
Silvana Munzi
Assunta Gagliardi
Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
Munzi S.
Cruz C.
Branquinho C.
Cai G.
Faleri C.
Parrotta L.
Bini L.
Gagliardi A.
Leith I.D.
Sheppard L.J.
Source :
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal, Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP), instacron:RCAAP, Ecological Indicators
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
Elsevier, 2020.

Abstract

The lichen Cladonia portentosa is generally considered to be sensitive to increased environmental nitrogen (N) deposition. However, the presence of this lichen in impacted environments suggests that it can cope with prolonged exposure to high N availability. To test the tolerance of this species to N, photosynthetic parameters, carbon and N concentrations and isotopic signature, chitin concentration, surface pH and extracellular enzymatic activity were measured in samples exposed for 11 years to different N doses and forms at the Whim bog N manipulation experimental site (United Kingdom). The results showed that C. portentosa is tolerant to long-term exposure to wet N deposition, maintaining its functionality with almost unaltered physiological parameters. The comparison of the proteome of short- and long-term exposed samples showed similar changes in protein expression suggesting that mechanisms to cope with N are not dependent on the exposure time even after more than a decade. Since empirical N Critical Loads are based on the response of sensitive components of the ecosystem, like C. portentosa, its capacity to cope with short- and long-term exposure to N needs to be recognized and taken into account when setting them, likewise, the significance of the form of N.<br />Investigador - Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) contract and the FCT projects IF/00964/2013 and UID/BIA/00329/2013 (2015–2018).

Details

Language :
English
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal, Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP), instacron:RCAAP, Ecological Indicators
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....9efc1ec4d95ae381f45aa63cadb08b73