Veteranisering av ek (Quercus robur) : Effekten på artrikedomen av lavar efter tio år

Sammanfattning: Oaks function as habitat for a myriad of species including 300 species of lichens. Many of the associated species, which are included on the Swedish red-list, depend on old oaks with hollows and deep bark fissures and hence their future is threatened due to a lack of middle-aged oaks. Ongoing studies examine whether veteranisation can speed up the aging process and reduce the delivery time of “new” old oaks; thus reducing the gap between young and old oaks. Decay processes can be facilitated in oaks by inflicting different types of wounds (i.e., veteranisation), such as broken off branches or sawed out nestboxes. In this study bark fissure depth and species richness of lichens were analyzed for oaks subjected to veteranisation, which were compared to controls, ten years after treating them. Bark fissure depth and species richness were analyzed for 49 oaks based on data from from 2014 and 2022. No significant differences were detected between veteranised oaks compared to the control oaks. The time from treatment to the undertaking of this study was only ten years and continued monitoring of the effects on the lichen flora is recommended.