We analyzed the structure of foliicolous lichen communities in the northernmost lowland forest of the Neotropics, Los Tuxtlas Tropical Biology Station in Veracruz, Mexico, and its dependence on phorophyte and microclimate. Along a 420‐m long transect with 15 equidistant sampling points, within a 10 m radius of each point, we sampled a total 137 phorophytes and 411 leaves. The phorophytes represented 13 species, with diverse leaf traits regarding size, texture, presence of hairs and/or glands, and longevity, including: Astrocaryum mexicanum (Arecaceae), Chamaedorea ernesti‐augustii (Arecaceae), Costus scaber (Costaceae), Guarea glabra (Meliaceae), Heliconia latispatha (Heliconiaceae), Monstera acuminata (Araceae), Myriocarpa longipes (Urticaceae), Piper hispidum (Piperaceae), Poulsenia armata (Moraceae), Pseudolmedia oxyphyllaria (Moraceae), Salacia megistophylla (Celastraceae), Siparuna thecaphora (Siparunaceae) and Syngonium podophyllum (Araceae). NDMS ordination and cluster analysis grouped the phorophytes into hierarchically structured clusters variously correlated with microsite, phorophyte species and foliicolous lichen species richness. Indicator species analysis revealed statistically significant foliicolous lichen species characteristic for terminal clusters and for phorophyte species. We conclude that the principle of “diversity begets diversity” may apply, in that phorophyte diversity influences the diversity of foliicolous lichen communities through the manifestation of subtle phorophyte preferences, best seen in well‐developed communities on leaves with higher longevity. Thus, well‐preserved forest ecosystems, with a higher diversity of suitable phorophytes, will support a higher diversity of foliicolous lichens, a phenomenon that extents to epiphytes in general.

中文翻译：

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多样性导致多样性：Los Tuxtlas生物圈保护区（墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州）低地雨林中叶状地衣的植物和微场所关系

我们分析了新热带地区最北端的低地森林（墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州的Los Tuxtlas热带生物学站）中叶片状地衣群落的结构，以及其对自发植物和小气候的依赖性。沿着一个420-m长的样带，在15个等距的采样点上，每个点的半径为10 m，我们总共采样了137个自发植物和411个叶子。发色团代表13种，在大小，质地，毛发和/或腺体的存在以及寿命方面具有不同的叶片特征，包括：墨西哥天蛾（Arecaceae），Chamaedorea ernesti-augustii（Arecaceae），Costus scaber（Costaceae），Guarea glabra（Meliaceae），Heliconia latispatha（Heliconiaceae），龟背竹喜树（天南星科），Myriocarpa长柄（荨麻科），荜hispidum（胡椒），Poulsenia ARMATA（桑科），Pseudolmedia oxyphyllaria（桑科），五层龙megistophylla（卫矛科），Siparuna thecaphora（坛罐花科）和合果芋（天南星科）。NDMS排序和聚类分析将发色团分为层次结构化的簇，这些簇分别与微场所，发色团物种和叶状地衣物种丰富度相关。指示剂物种分析显示，具有统计学意义的端粒和自发植物的叶状地衣物种具有统计学意义。我们得出结论，“多样性导致多样性”的原则可能适用，因为植物分子多样性通过微妙的植物分子偏好的表现影响叶片类地衣群落的多样性，这在发达的群落中长寿较高的叶片上最为明显。因此，保存完好的森林生态系统具有较高的适宜生植物多样性，将支持较高的叶状地衣多样性，这种现象一般都属于附生植物。