TY - JOUR A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Rohner, Maria-Sofie A1 - Hoppert, Michael T1 - Red wood ants (Formica rufa group) disperse bryophyte and lichen fragments on a local scale N2 - Gametophyte and thallus fragments, respectively, may be an important or even the only mode of reproduction for many bryophytes and lichens species. Until now especially birds and mammals have been identifi ed as potential animal dispersal vectors of fragments. This study investigates the dispersal of bryophyte and lichen fragments by red wood ants which build large nest mounds from plant material and are abundant in European coniferous forests. We sampled nest material from 25 nest mounds in fi ve different pine and spruce forest types in Germany and found numerous fragments of 20 bryophyte and ten lichen species. As they occurred on almost all studied mounds and often in large numbers we conclude that collecting cryptogam fragments as nest material is a characteristic feature for the Formica rufa group in coniferous forests. Species number and composition of fragments on mounds coincided with the epigeic vegetation around ant nests to a large extent: Almost all collected species were present in the vegetation, and dominant fragment species occurred in large amounts in the vicinity of ant nests. Lichen fragments were larger than bryophyte fragments. Certain life forms (weft-forming bryophytes, reindeer lichens) were accumulated on mounds, while others (tall turfs, cup-type Cladonia species) were discriminated, refl ecting fragmentation features of species. Collected fragments may regenerate to mature plants if nest mounds are abandoned, and especially if they are lost during transport over several metres. We conclude that dispersal of fragments by red wood ants contributes to maintain epigeic bryophyte and lichen diversity of coniferous forests by supporting colonisation after disturbances, which occur on different spatial and temporal scales. Y1 - 2007 SN - 0078-2238 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hoppert, Michael A1 - Reimer, Rudolph A1 - Kemmling, Anne A1 - Schröder, Annekatrin A1 - Günzl, Bettina A1 - Heinken, Thilo T1 - Structure and reactivity of a biological soil crust from a xeric sandy soil in Central Europe N2 - The investigation was designed to explore the structure, composition and activity of a biological soil crust on an acidic, sandy soil from a temperate climate. The crust covers several hundreds of square meters on the hilltop of a large terminal moraine. The conjugate alga Zygogonium ericetorum forms the essential matrix for the crust, a dense web of algal filaments with interspersed lichens and mosses. The crust is composed of three layers, with an uppermost layer consisting nearly entirely of a dense algal mat. In lower layers, a parasitic fungus, penetrating the algal cells, is another important component of the crust community. In this soil crust, photosynthetic and respiratory activity is stabilized at low water activities. KW - biological soil crust KW - desiccation tolerance KW - electron microscopy KW - Fusarium oxysporum KW - Zygogonium ericetorum Y1 - 2004 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-5872 ER -