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A foundational concept in ecology is the positive relationship between habitat heterogeneity and species diversity. Epiphytes demonstrate microhabitat specialization to particular areas within a tree; thus, epiphyte communities are potentially influenced by the structural heterogeneity of host trees. We evaluated the relationship between structural features of Acer macrophyllum and epiphyte distributions and abundance in a temperate rainforest in Washington, USA. Epiphytes and structural features of three Acer macrophyllum trees were systematically surveyed using the point-intercept method from the base to the crown and on three branches for each tree. Rarefied species richness increased with structural richness. Species richness along the trunk differed significantly among types of structural features (i.e., broken branches, burls, holes, rivets, branches, and trunks); broken branches had the highest species richness and branches had the lowest, followed by trunks. Rarefied species richness increased with height and peaked at 12 m, but the relationship between structural diversity and height was not significant. The species that occurred on branches were different to those that occurred on trunks, and species composition varied significantly among trunk features. The high structural diversity in northern temperate rainforest trees influenced the fine-scale distribution of nonvascular epiphytes and may explain their coexistence in tree crowns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Church forests collectively represent the only surviving remnants of the original montane forest, serving as critical sanctuaries for many of Ethiopia's endangered and endemic plant and invertebrate taxa. Modern inventories of church forests suggest that they are vulnerable to degradation because of their small size and isolation. The aim of this study is to use historical air photos from the period of the Italian occupation of Ethiopia (1935-1941) to measure changes to church forests over a ~80-year time span. We find little evidence that church forests in the study region around Debra Tabor in the northern Ethiopia highlands are declining in size. Rather, church forests have proven to be remarkably resilient on the landscape despite decades of dramatic change to the world around them. Our findings, therefore, highlight the effectiveness of religion-based forest stewardship. Results also indicate, however, that while many church forests used to be buffered from intensive agricultural activity (e.g., cultivation and pasture) today, they find themselves significantly more isolated and vulnerable to edge effects as a result of a general decrease of trees and bushlands surrounding the forests. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of atmospherically-deposited nitrogen (N) by coniferous forest canopies has primarily been attributed to epiphytic lichens, despite microbes being present on leaf surfaces. We examined the relative contribution of live foliage with its epiphytic microbes and epiphytic lichen on N transformations in black spruce canopies. The epiphytic microbes and live foliage intercepted 27% of rainwater, 72% of incident nitrite + nitrate, and 63% of incident ammonium, while enriching throughfall with organic N by 52%. Epiphytic lichens on dead lower branches intercepted 60% of rainwater and depleted absolute amounts of inorganic and organic N, even though solute concentration increased as water passed through the lichens. Relationships were found between the number of colony forming units of epiphytic fungi and the depletion and enrichment of different forms of N in throughfall. Intensive forest management practices could result in the canopy being a net sink for N as a result of higher lichen biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationships between Foliar Fungal Endophyte Communities and Ecophysiological Traits of CAM and C3 Epiphytic Bromeliads in a Neotropical Rainforest. In the original article [[1]], the funder National Science Foundation, DEB-1556583 to S.A.V.B was not included. Reference 1 Tellez P.H., Woods C.L., Formel S., Bael S.A.V. Relationships between Foliar Fungal Endophyte Communities and Ecophysiological Traits of CAM and C3 Epiphytic Bromeliads in a Neotropical Rainforest. [Extracted from the article]