Preference of phorophyte by the lichens in the eastern Chaco forest

Abstract

The epiphyte, corticolous lichen community depends on substrate to survive, they grow on trees being a non-timber resource. Many insects develop on it. The Chaco forest, a xerophytes environment, covers an extensive area in the north of Argentina with fine wood trees. The destruction of the forest jeopardizes the lichen community. The lichen community (life forms, structure and cover) is analyzed on the three most important phorophyte (dominant trees) in Chaco forest. Braun Blanquet techniques were used to obtain the data, an ordination technique (Principal Components Analysis), and Shannon index descriptive statistics to analyze them. 21 species are reported, the most favorable substrate was Zizyphus mistol with a total of 20 species. 16 species were registered on Prosopis pugionata, and 15 on Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco. The presence of lichen communities in the Chaco forest is discussed.