Ecology of Lichen and Bryophyte Communities in Saskatchewan

Lichen and bryophyte communities have been classified in five associations whose primary affinities with the vascular vegetation are: Parmelietum chlorochroae with the declining phase of the Astragaletum caespitosi; Cladonietum nemoxynae with the Astragaletum pectinati; initial phase of the Cladonietum multiformis with Danthonion intermediae associations; the Cladonietum multiformis typicum with dry pine and pine—spruce forest; the Cladonietum alpestris with damp pine—spruce and spruce forest; the Physcientum muscigenae with dry, open vegetation and overgrazed grassland. The general ecology of lichens and bryophytes is discussed and the associations are regarded as "unions" in a phytocoenose occupying "ecological niches" created by the vascular vegetation. Lichen and bryophyte life forms are considered indicators of gross climatic conditions; their indicative value is mainly quantitative as expressed in the biological spectra of the associations. Cryptogams are believed important as ecological indicators. In the classification of vascular vegetation the cryptogamic communities may be used to distinguish smaller units within the associations, and in the correlation of developmental phases.