The Amazonian rain forests of Yasuni National Park, Ecuador (YNP), count among the world's forests regions with highest biodiversity, but are strongly threatened by deforestation. Cryptogams (bryophytes and lichens) are common and characteristic organisms in these forests, are sensitive to environmental changes, and are considered effective ecological indicators. The objective of this study was to explore the response of epiphytic cryptogams to forest succession in the Amazonian forests of YNP. We hypothesized that alteration of structural and micro-environmental characteristics of the forest, including reduction of canopy cover and lowering of tree species richness, lead to a reduction of species richness and changes in species composition of epiphytic cryptogams. We assessed species richness and composition of cryptogams on the bases of 442 trees in three stage of forest succession (early, intermediate, late), using generalized linear mixed models, multivariate analysis, beta diversity components and Mantel test. We registered 146 species of cryptogams, including 50 of lichens and 96 of bryophytes (39 mosses, 57 liverworts). Diversity of epiphytic cryptogams was highest in late succession forest, and lowest in early succession forest. Major changes in species richness and composition correlated with changes in canopy openness relative to the shift from early to late stages of forest succession. The results demonstrate for the first time the importance of tree species richness for cryptogamic epiphyte richness in Amazonian rain forests. Maintenance of high tree species diversity and structural heterogeneity in late succession forests can considerably contribute to the conservation of the cryptogamic epiphytes of Amazonian rain forests.

厄瓜多尔亚苏尼国家公园 (YNP) 的亚马逊雨林是世界上生物多样性最高的森林区域之一，但受到森林砍伐的严重威胁。Cryptogams（苔藓植物和地衣）是这些森林中常见的特征生物，对环境变化很敏感，被认为是有效的生态指标。本研究的目的是探索附生隐花植物对 YNP 亚马逊森林中森林演替的响应。我们假设森林结构和微环境特征的改变，包括冠层覆盖的减少和树种丰富度的降低，导致物种丰富度的减少和附生隐花植物的物种组成发生变化。我们以森林演替三个阶段（早、中、晚）的442棵树为基础，使用广义线性混合模型、多变量分析、β多样性分量和Mantel检验，评估了隐花植物的物种丰富度和组成。我们登记了146种隐花植物，其中地衣50种，苔藓植物96种（苔藓39种，苔类植物57种）。晚演替林附生隐花植物多样性最高，演替早林最低。物种丰富度和组成的主要变化与相对于森林演替早期到晚期阶段的转变的冠层开度变化相关。结果首次证明了树种丰富度对亚马逊雨林隐花附生植物丰富度的重要性。