Survey of Moss Distribution in New Zealand

Abstract

The area occupied by any moss (as well as its distribution within that area) is a resultant of many factors, chief of which would appear to be the geologic age and history of the moss; its centre of origin; the availability of suitable habitats; the specific make up of the moss; the amount and distribution of the rainfall; the pH, moisture content and other factors of the substratum; the normal average humidity of the air; the absence or presence and duration of intervals of drought; toleration of or adjustment to particular light intensities and temperatures; reaction to altitude; prevalence and character of prevailing winds; biological factors such as absence of spore production, presence of propagula, water storage tissues, etc. As a consequence some mosses are of ancient lineage and cosmopolitan, while others are of strictly local occurrence; some are tolerant of a wide range in the pH of the substratum, in light intensities and other factors, while others are restricted to a narrow range. In previous papers (1946-52) the writer has given a detailed account of the distribution of each individual species in respect to the 18 botanical districts and subdistricts of the three main islands. It is on these that much of the present summary is based; but when the small size of many species is considered and the sporadic appearance of others, together with the fact that there remain large tracts of mountainous country from which not a single record is available, it will be clear that some modification of the present account is inevitable. The purpose of this essay is to show (1) that Cockayne's Botanical Provinces in New Zealand established for the vascular flora hold good for the moss flora also; (2) that