Species richness–standing crop relationship in stream bryophyte communities: patterns across multiple scales

Abstract

Summary We tested for a unimodal (‘hump‐backed’) relationship between species richness and standing crop at various spatial scales in stream bryophyte communities. Bryophyte species and their biomasses were determined from 20 to 25 quadrats in eight river and six stream sites in northern Finland. Regression analyses revealed a quadratic relationship between richness and biomass in only two of the river sites and a positive correlation in one other. A quadratic relationship was detected in three stream sites and richness increased linearly with biomass in another. We also tested for the hump‐shaped pattern across individual stream boulders, representing an elevational gradient from continuously submerged to permanently dry conditions, with an intermediate zone with fluctuating water level. Species richness‐standing crop relationship conformed to the hump‐backed model only when samples from all three microhabitats were included in the analysis. A significant positive correlation occurred in the exposed low biomass end of the gradient which is characterized by semi‐aquatic species, whereas the relationship tended to be negative in permanently submerged areas with high biomass of large canopy‐forming species. Quadrats close to the water level had intermediate standing crop and highest species richness. Species dominant at either end of the gradient appeared unable to monopolize space in the intermediate zone where disturbances (e.g. scouring by ice) detach mosses from the substratum, creating vacant gaps for colonization. The unimodal relationship between richness and biomass is likely to occur only in streams that contain large boulders protruding above the water line, thus providing scope for community diversification along very short vertical distances.