Patterns of lichen photosynthesis and respiration following prolonged frozen storage

Abstract

The effect of prolonged frozen storage on patterns of photosynthesis and respiration in the lichen Alectoria ochroleuca (Hoffm.) Massal. has been examined. The results indicate that this plant not only survives long-term exposure to low temperatures but also that its basic photosynthetic and respiratory responses to temperature, light intensity, and thallus moisture content are altered very little by long-term storage at −60 °C. This maintenance not only of absolute viability but also of the more subtle patterns of physiological activity suggests that such storage may be used to hold lichen material for use in multivariate experimental systems which require replicates having identical field pretreatment.