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Functional traits and functional diversity in lichens
Kolenská, Lucie ; Malíček, Jiří (advisor) ; Vondrák, Jan (referee)
Functional traits are a discussed topic across disciplines and articles with lichens are published as well. Traits are the attributes that define the organism from morphological features through anatomy to the physiology of the individual, including interaction in environmental and environmental influences. The most frequently studied functional trait of lichens is the type of thallus. Another commonly studied trait is the type of photobiont, where the presence of algae Trentepohlia is negatively affected by frost and because of this its number decreases with increasing altitude. Another functional trait of lichens which is studied is reproduction, and also secondary metabolites, which protect lichens, for example, against UV light or herbivores. Functional traits together form functional diversity, which is another way how to measure diversity on a planet where the most diverse ecosystem is not always the one with the highest number of species. Functional diversity indices then can reveal unique communities that should be protected. However, neither the definitions nor the calculation of functional diversity are exatly specified, we use different indices. The Rao index of quadratic entropy is most often used for lichens. Keywords indices, lichenized fungi, mycobiont, photobiont, thallus
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