A checklist of the bryophytes of Corsica (France): new records and a review of the literature

Abstract

Based on a thorough review of the literature as well as floristic surveys undertaken over 20 years, a checklist of the bryophytes of Corsica, a mountainous western Mediterranean island, is presented. The occurrence of 17 liverwort and 44 moss species is documented for the first time from Corsica. As a result, the Corsican bryoflora includes 540 species: 148 liverworts, three hornworts and 389 mosses. Among the species reported, seven liverwort and 17 moss species are red-listed in Europe. By contrast with angiosperms, no bryophyte is endemic to the island based on traditional, phenetic species concepts. The number of new species reported here indicates that Corsica is exceedingly under-recorded bryologically. A better knowledge of the distribution, frequency and ecology of bryophyte species on the island is thus an absolute prerequisite in order to propose appropriate conservation measures in this Mediterranean environment that is, at least locally, severely threatened.