The possibilities of survival of bryophytes belonging to major phytogeographical elements are evaluated. The arctic and boreal bryofloras are much less endangered than the temperate, meridional and tropical bryofloras. This is because many arctic and boreal taxa have wide and often circumpolar ranges and, in addition, outposts in the mountains of more southern areas. Most endangered are the taxa which inhabit special environments or substrates, as virgin forests, rotten wood or rivulets. There are, however, examples of total local disasters in the arctic and in the boreal forest zone due to pollution and mechanical destruction. The richest temperate, meridional and tropical bryofloras occur in forested areas, which are disjunct on different continents. There are examples of disjunct temperate and pantropical species of bryophytes, byt many taxa are endemic to certain separate ecosystems (e.g. on the west coast of North America, eastern North America, Europe, and east Asia). Most human cultivation is in temperate and meridional zones, and in many areas, notably in China, practically all forest has been cleared for agriculture. The temperate and meridional bryofloras can be saved only by conserving still existing forested areas. The richest bryofloras in the tropics occur in the tropical rain forests and especially in tropical montane forests. The present destruction of these forests by clear cutting means an almost total loss of their bryoflora. Only very few species of virgin tropical forests are able to survive in manmade habitats.