Presence of Juvenile Club Moss (Lycopodiaceae) Sporophytes and Gametophytes in Relation to Vegetation Cover in Dry Pine Forests

Abstract

Abstract Habitat disturbance is thought to be an important determinant of juvenile club moss population occurrence, yet the few exploratory studies on juvenile club moss populations failed to address the relationship of subterranean gametophytes with incipient sporophytes and aboveground vegetation. Understanding how vegetation influences the development of the juvenile club moss population is crucial for establishing protection for these archaic plants. We used non-metric multidimensional scaling to observe vegetation differences in nine sites with juvenile club moss populations. The vegetation change over a four-year period in a dry pine forest site with a juvenile club moss (Lycopodiaceae) population and nine additional sites used for gametophyte search were analyzed. Sites with emerging juvenile club moss populations in dry pine forests included the following characteristics: 1) vegetation composition stability; 2) no tree canopy shading; and 3) the presence of Deschampsia flexuosa (L.) Trin. Other pr...