LICHENS AS INDICATORS OF ENVIRONMENTAL STABILITY AND CHANGE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS OF THAILAND

A 3 year research project in Thailand on lichens as indicators of environmental change in tropical forests was undertaken in protected areas where monitoring for long-term changes is now set up. Sites were selected in Huay Kha Khaeng, Doi Suthep and Doi Inthanon in deciduous dry dipterocarp and evergreen forests where phanerogamic diversity and fires history is known. Through collection and analysis of lichen and environmental data, the association of lichens with tree species and forest type, and the use of lichens as indicators of recent changes in forest history, is demonstrated. Factors affecting the lowering of lichen biodiversity are discussed, in particular the effects of fire on the constituent phanerogamic and cryptogamic communities.