title: Archaeobotanical evidence for a massive loss of epiphyte species richness during industrialization in southern England.
abstract: This paper describes a novel archaeological resource--preserved epiphytes on the timber structure of vernacular buildings--used, to our knowledge, for the first time to quantify a loss of biodiversity between pre-industrial and post-industrial landscapes. By matching the confirmed occurrence of epiphyte species for the pre-industrial period, with a statistical likelihood for their absence in the present-day landscape (post-1960), we robustly identified species that have been extirpated across three contrasting regions in southern England. First, the scale of biodiversity loss observed--up to 80 per cent of epiphytes--severely challenges biodiversity targets and environmental baselines that have been developed using reference points in the post-industrial period. Second, we examined sensitivity in the present-day distribution of extirpated species, explained by three environmental drivers: (i) pollution regime, (ii) extent of ancient woodland, and (iii) climatic setting. Results point to an interacting effect between the pollution regime (sulphur dioxide) and changed woodland structure, leading to distinctive regional signatures in biodiversity loss.
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, UK. c.ellis@rbge.org.uk
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yahr
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Coppins
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D001106:Archaeology; D044822:Biodiversity; D004739:England; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D049671:History, 18th Century; D007221:Industry; D008011:Lichens / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide