*2.5. Data Analysis*

The Wilcoxon signed-rank non-parametric test has been used for pairwise comparisons among the two types of forest management, OG and NOG.

The beta diversity between site pairs was calculated based on the abundance matrices of the lichen species in the sites following the framework proposed by Baselga [32]. This approach is based on the use of Bray–Curtis dissimilarity and breaks down beta diversity into two components: (1) balanced variation in abundance, accounting for the individuals of some species in one site that are substituted by the same number of individuals of different species in another site (hereafter "turnover"); and (2) abundance gradients, whereby some individuals are lost from one site to the other (hereafter "nestedness").

To compare the diversity components observed in the different conditions investigated, the beta diversity was calculated for different subsets concerning the type of forest management of the sites (OG vs. NOG), the reproductive strategy (sexual vs. vegetative), and the status of national rarity (common vs. rare) of the species.

Calculations of beta diversity were performed using the vegan [33], ecodist [34] and betapart [35] packages in R environment [36].
