Dr. Catherine Cardelús writes about the epiphytes they have found in the church forests of Ethiopia so far:
I am thrilled that we have epiphytes! Thus far I have found 5 species of epiphytic ferns at the low elevation site, Zhara, and 4 species of epiphytic ferns at the higher elevation, Debresena. One species overlaps between the two sites. I haven’t found any flowering plants in the canopy. There are also a few species of moss. The lower elevation site also had more canopy soil (yes, trees can accumulate soil) than the higher elevation site.
I have collected forest floor soils, canopy soils, epiphytes and host tree foliar tissue from each site. From these samples I will analyze the nutrient concentrations. We chose the same tree species within each site and examine trees along the edge of the forest and in the interior to examine if there are noticeable edge effects in species composition and foliar nutrients.