<i>Lobaria amplissima</i> thalli with external cephalodia need more rain than thalli without

Abstract Hydration traits determine much of a lichen’s distribution pattern along a climatic gradient but the mechanisms involved are still incompletely known. A higher abundance of large external cephalodia in wet oceanic than in drier climates has previously been reported in Lobaria amplissima . This study aims to quantify how much more rain L. amplissima thalli with external cephalodia would need to fill their internal water holding capacity (WHC internal ) than thalli without. The mean WHC internal was 1·8 times higher in thalli with external cephalodia than in those without. The WHC internal when converted to mm rain needed to saturate an average specimen was 1·37 mm (min–max: 0·55–3·8 mm) for a cephalodiate thallus, whereas an average thallus without external cephalodia needed just 0·76 mm (min–max: 0·36–1·3 mm). Known dewfall rates and rates of water uptake from humid air are far below what is needed to saturate even the cephalodiate thallus with the lowest WHC internal , implying a stronger dependency on rain for thalli with external cephalodia. Thus, the observed trends in this study are consistent with earlier reports of decreasing frequency of external cephalodia from wet to drier climates.