Data from: Ghost species form an important component of the epiphytic biota in temperate forests

Sequencing of environmental samples has great potential for biodiversity
research, but its application is limited by the lack of reliable DNA
barcode databases for species identifications. Such a database
has been created for epiphytic lichens of Europe, allowing us to compare
the results of environmental sequencing with standard taxonomic
surveys. The species undetected by taxonomic surveys (what we term the
ghost component) amount to about half of the species actually present in
hectare plots of Central European forests. Some of these, which
currently occur only as diaspores or weakly developed thalli, are likely
to be favoured in the course of global change. The ghost
component usually represents a larger fraction in managed forests than in
old growth unmanaged forests. The total species composition of different
plots is much more similar than suggested by taxonomic surveys
alone. On a regional scale, this supports the well-known statement that
"everything is everywhere, but, the environment selects".