ID: 613 / 134

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: ADVANCES IN MICROCLIMATE RESEARCH FOR CRYPTOGAM ECOLOGY. SESSION 1

Abstract: Cryptogams, such as bryophytes and lichens, are directly sensitive to temperature and precipitation due to their ecophysiological properties (poikylohydric nature and lack of a protective hydrophobic cuticle), and are therefore, closely coupled to environmental and microclimatic conditions. Microclimate ecology has regained interest in the context of climate change, due its fundamental importance to understanding how different organisms respond to climate change, and if particular microclimatic refugia can buffer climate change impacts on biodiversity. The recent increase in the availability of microsensors, has been allowing the extension of monitoring networks, providing measurements of the local microclimate, mostly on temperature, in a very detailed way, for different types of organisms. Nevertheless, such knowledge, for cryptogams, is still scarce and scattered. Significant mismatches between macro- and microclimates are expected in various ecosystems, highlighting the need to more accurately estimate the climatic conditions experienced by organisms, which challenge global warming predictions. How macroclimate affects microclimate dynamics, and vice versa, remains an open question, and it is unclear whether these relationships are constant either along spatial gradients or on a temporal scale, for many different species and species groups. This Symposium will summarize the main advances in microclimate research for cryptogam ecology. Specifically, it welcomes presentations providing a synthesis of the current knowledge and new data on: i) recent methodological developments in microclimate monitoring and modelling applied to cryptogams; ii) impact of microclimate on cryptogam species distribution and performance; and iii) microclimate applications in cryptogam conservation and climate change adaptation.

Speaker 1: Name: Helena Hespanhol Institutional affiliation: BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO E-mail: helenahespanhol@cibio.up.pt Tentative talk title: Combining microclimate sensor networks and models to uncover the vulnerability of a threatened bryophyte to climate change

Speaker 2: Name: Sonia Merinero Institutional affiliation: Biodiversity and Conservation Area, Rey Juan Carlos University E-mail: sonia.merinero@gmail.com Tentative talk title: Microclimate and intraspecific variation mediate the effects of biotic interactions on lichen performance

Speaker 3: Name: Matej Man Institutional affiliation: Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences E-mail: matej.man@ibot.cas.cz Tentative talk title: The most important microclimatic variables for temperate forest bryophytes and lichens.

Topics (Up to three): Bryology

Topic 2: Mycology and Lichenology

Topic 3: Global Change Ecology

Justification: This symposium will provide a chance to gather researchers around microclimate ecology, essential for understanding the response of bryophytes and lichens to local environmental factors and improving predictions of species’ vulnerability to climate change. Understanding the importance of microclimate for cryptogam ecology requires different research perspectives, from bryology, lichenology, community ecology, ecophysiology and global change. One senior and two early-career researchers, working on microclimate ecology and non-charismatic groups such as bryophytes and lichens, are listed as speakers. We aim to increase the visibility of women in science and get together researchers at different career stages to discuss this topic advances.