Epiphyllous Bryophytes from the Lacandon Forest, Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract

Epiphyllous bryophyte species (26 liverworts and one moss) are reported from the Lacandon Forest in Chiapas, Mexico. Nine of them are reported for the first time for the country: Cololejeunea subscariosa, Diplasiolejeunea glaziovii, and Leptolejeunea obfuscata were previously reported from South American lowland species, while Cololejeunea jooriana, Colura greig-smithii, Diplasiolejeunea borhidiana, and Lejeunea pililoba have Caribbean distributions. A new combination, Aphanolejeunea pustulosa (Jovet-Ast) A. Bernecker & Pfcs, is made. Chiapas is one of the northernmost limits for tropical rain forest (Medellin et al. 1992). This state has been identified as one of the most diverse regions in Mexico (e.g., Breedlove 1973; Flores-Villela & Gerez 1988; McNeely et al. 1990; Medellin 1994; Pennington & Sarukhfin 1968; Rzedowski 1978); this is due in part to its diversity in climate and topography (Breedlove 1981). Martinez et al. (1994), estimated that 78.8% of the vascular plant diversity of the state is represented in the Lacandon Forest. However, there are few studies that are dedicated to Chiapas bryophytes. Delgadillo and Equihua (1990) reported only two studies that deal with the bryoflora of the state: Sharp (1945) and Delgadillo and Cirdenas (1989). Both are papers dedicated to mosses, their biogeography and distribution in the highlands of the state. Based on collections made by D. Breedlove and M. Bourell, Bourell (1992), gave an extensive list on the bryophytes of Chiapas; she also included information based on literature citations. Bourell's work is mainly the result of collections at elevations ranging from 710 m in areas surrounding the Municipality of Chiapa de Corzo to 2,830 m elevation at the Huistfin Municipality, but there are no collections from the Ocosingo Municipality, where the Lacandon Forest is located. Bourell (1992) reported 310 species of liverworts, but did not detail what species are found living as epiphylls. Fulford and Sharp (1990) presented a list of 550 species of liverworts and varieties for the country. Among these, 217 species are reported from Chiapas, but most of them are records above 1,500 m above sea level, which represents only a tiny portion of the Lacandon, on the mountain ranges. The Lacandon forest is located in the northeastern part of the state of Chiapas and it is one of the few states that still has good representation of tropical rain forest (Castillo Campos & Narave Flores 1992). The region is about 1.5 million hectares with about 500,000 still covered with forest (Medellin 1991). Field work for this study was done mostly on the southern part of the region, inside the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, along the Lacanttin river. Two more localities were visited on the northeastern part of the forest, on the areas surrounding the villages of Nahi and Lacanhi. Another region was visited in the northwestern part of the reserve, surrounding the village of Nuevo Chapultepec (Fig. 1). Numbers are from C. Equihua, with the exception of number 8191 from S. R. Gradstein and 13 that are from R. Medellin. Coordinates were calculated with a trimble GPS, datum WGS84. Coordin tes that were obtained from a map drawn by the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Geograffa e Informftica (INEGI, Mexico 1980) are indicated with an *. COLLECTING LOCALITIES We present here the results of the identification of the epiphyllous bryophytes found in a sample of 46 collections from the Lacandon Region, Ocosingo Municipality. Lacandon Forest (outside the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve): 0007-2745/99/747-752$0.75/0 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.177 on Tue, 15 Nov 2016 03:55:15 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 748 THE BRYOLOGIST [VOL. 102