g. up to one year: Sillett and McCune, 1998 and Gauslaa et al., 2006 or two to three years: Scheidegger et al., 1995 and Keon and Muir,

2002. The longest time-series published to date is a study on Lobaria amplissima (Scop.) Forssell on old deciduous trees in N. England, starting with 14 transplants of which six remained after 20 years ( Gilbert, 2002). Very few studies on retention trees have used an experimental approach including transplantation. One exception is a study by Hazell and Gustafsson (1999) in KPT-330 which the macrolichen (large lichen, as opposed to small microlichens) Lobaria pulmonaria L. Hoffm. and the bryophyte Antitrichia curtipendula (Hedw.) Brid. were transplanted to aspens in clearcuts, as indicators for habitat suitability of retention trees to sensitive species, with adjacent forest trees as control. Two years after Gemcitabine supplier transplantation, distinct patterns emerged with high survival and vitality of both species on clearcut trees. The short time-span restricts conclusions though, and uncertainties have remained whether this is a long-lasting response. Transplants in long time-series are likely to be exposed to large variations in environmental

conditions, such as altered microclimate in forest successions following clearcutting, due to change in tree density. They may also be affected by biotic interactions like competition from mosses. We here report a re-inventory of the L. pulmonaria transplantation experiment of Hazell and Gustafsson

(1999), 14 years after its initiation and with an original sample size of more than 1100 transplants on 280 aspens at 35 sites. It is the longest lichen Selleckchem PR 171 transplantation time-series so far published from a well replicated experiment. Our main question was if L. pulmonaria is able to survive, and if so, how vital it will be on aspen trees retained at final harvest in comparison with forest trees. Other important questions were: What are the differences in survival and vitality of transplants between scattered aspens and aspens retained in small groups?, What is the effect of transplantation occasion (spring or autumn)?, and Do response patterns found after the first inventory two years after transplantation correspond to those 12 years later? Our primal interest in the transplantation outcome was based on an aspiration to gain knowledge necessary for the formulation of more specific advice on how to retain aspen trees at final harvest to benefit biodiversity. L. pulmonaria is a large, epiphytic, foliose, macrolichen with a total distribution area embracing Europe, Asia, Africa and N. America ( Yoshimura, 1971). In boreal Fennoscandia it mainly grows on aspen P. tremula, goat willow Salix caprea L., and Sorbus species ( Jørgensen and Tønsberg, 2007), and is most abundant in old forest (e.g. Gjerde et al., 2012). The species disperses mainly vegetatively (isidia, soredia), and rarely sexually with spores. L.