Epiphytic Lichen Communities Use as: A Tool for Assessing Forest Condition in Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract—The present manuscript is enumerated 455 epiphytic lichen belonging 126 genera and 37 families. The study aims to document the diversity of epiphytic lichens in the region and assess their potential as indicators of forest health. Utilizing Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the study investigates the distribution of lichen families across different districts. A heat map, accompanied by a dendrogram, visually portrays the presence of unique lichen communities in each district, offering insights into the overall health of the study area. Furthermore, a radial bar plot highlights the number of species thriving on various phorophytes. Hierarchical cluster analysis categorizes lichen species based on their occurrence frequency in all districts, revealing patterns through Euclidean distance measurements. The analysis of diverse growth forms in different districts is conducted using Pearson correlation and visually presented in a Polar heat map. The accumulated information provides valuable data for prospective biomonitoring and climate change studies in India.