Species Richness Of Mosses Research Articles

Bryophyte persistence following major fire in eucalypt forest of southern Australia

The significance of variation in fire severity is not well understood for bryophyte species richness and composition. This is despite fire being a major factor in determining bryophyte richness and composition in temperate forests. We documented the species richness of mosses and liverworts in 42 sites of Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forest in eastern Australia. We compared two age classes: long unburned stands and 72year old stands following a major fire in February 2009. Within these two age classes, we surveyed sites of contrasting fire severity: (1) unburned, (2) subject to moderate severity fire (intact canopy) and (3) subject to high severity fire (burned canopy). At each site, we surveyed bryophytes in 10m×100m transects, which was large enough to include a variety of microhabitats. Roughly 60% of the variation in species richness (r2=0.61, p<0.001) and composition (R=0.57, p<0.001) was explained by fire severity. High severity fire removed all bryophytes and only pioneer species were present 2years later. In contrast, the moderate severity fire sites were often species rich because they harboured pioneer bryophytes and species associated with long unburned forest. A key finding was the importance of small unburned patches that contained understorey trees and logs for boosting bryophyte richness. Practices such as salvage logging that remove biological legacies are inconsistent with the conservation of bryophyte diversity in this landscape.

Global moss diversity: spatial and taxonomic patterns of species richness

We have analysed the global patterns of moss species diversity based on a dataset created from checklists, online databases, and herbarium records. We collected more than 100 000 distribution records for over 400 different geographical units and standardized species taxonomy using the TROPICOS database of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Maps of overall moss species richness, as well as individual maps for taxonomic orders of mosses, are provided. Based on our dataset, we did not find a general latitudinal gradient of increasing moss diversity with decreasing latitude. Several areas of temperate broadleaf forests, boreal forests, and tundra show relatively high species richness that is comparable to tropical regions. Centres of moss diversity include the northern Andes, Southeast Asia, Mexico, and Japan, as well as the Himalayan region, Madagascar, the East African Highlands, central Europe, Scandinavia, and British Columbia. Our dataset presents the first collection of moss species inventories with global coverage. It contributes to documentation and understanding of global biogeographic patterns in mosses, helps to identify gaps in floristic knowledge, and could prove to be a valuable resource to aid taxonomic and systematic revisions or assessments of species and genera, by quickly and easily supplying an overview of the geographic distribution of a given taxon.

Mosses of the Dominican Republic: Species Catalogue, Elevation Distribution and Floristic Affinities

Abstract. The Dominican Republic moss flora stands out within the Caribbean countries because of the high species richness and number of disjuncts. The flora is comprised of 467 taxa in 207 genera, and 61 families. We report 62 new records and 82 disjuncts for this flora that shows affinity with other Greater Antilles and Central America. Within the context of the Caribbean and in terms of conservation, this flora is important because it represents both the highest reported moss species richness and 82 unique disjuncts within the West Indies.

Local and regional trends in the ground vegetation of beech forests

We sampled moss and vascular forest vegetation in five ancient beech forests from northwest France, embracing in each a wide array of environmental conditions. Indirect (PCA) and direct (RDA) gradient analysis were used to discern local and regional ecological factors which explain the observed variation in species composition. Our results point to a global factor encompassing a large array of soil and light conditions, unravelled when local particularities of studied forests are singled out. The humus form, numerically expressed by the Humus Index, explains a large part of the observed variation in ground vegetation. Our study confirmed opposite trends in vascular and moss species richness according to humus condition. Ecological factors to which vascular and moss forest species respond at the regional level can be estimated directly in the field by visually inspecting humus forms and vegetation strata despite of the confounding influence of local factors.

Species richness correlations among primary producers in boreal forests

ABSTRACTClose correlations in species numbers may make it possible to indirectly assess the species richness of difficult taxonomic groups by investigating indicator groups, for which data are more easily collected. We asked if species numbers correlate among the four dominating groups of primary producers in boreal forests (liverworts, macrolichens, mosses, and vascular plants) and if substrate affiliation of species (ground vs. other substrates), sample plot size (0.01–1000 m2), and stand age (young vs. old) influence correlation strength. We used three sets of study plots from northern Sweden each including wide ranges of species richness. Although there are large differences in the ecophysiology and substrate use of vascular plants and the two bryophyte groups (mosses and liverworts), we found strong positive correlations among them not previously reported from boreal forests. In contrast, no correlation in total species richness was found between macrolichens and the two bryophyte groups, despite large overlaps in their ecology. We suggest that the positive correlations among land plants (liverworts, mosses, and vascular plants) are linked to positive relationships between site moisture and species number for all three groups. In contrast, total species number of macrolichens has not been shown to be strongly associated with moisture. However, ground‐living lichens and mosses correlated negatively in old forests. This may relate to the inability of macrolichens to exploit shaded and wet old forest ground, a habitat that is used by many moss species. Furthermore, lichens and mosses of ‘other substrates’ correlated positively in old forests, probably because the amount of boulders was positively related to species richness in both groups. Generally, correlations became stronger with increasing plot size, whereas stand age had relatively little influence. We conclude that vascular plants could be used as an indicator group for species richness of mosses and liverworts in boreal landscapes.

Bryophyte relationships with environmental and structural variables in Tasmanian old-growth mixed eucalypt forest

The species richness and species composition of bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) was recorded at 33 sites in Tasmanian old growth mixed eucalypt forest. A total of 202 bryophyte taxa were recorded, consisting of 115 liverworts and 87 mosses. This constitutes approximately one third of the total bryophyte flora for Tasmania. Mean liverwort species richness per site was higher than moss species richness. Latitude was found to be a positive predictor in all multiple regression models of bryophyte, moss and liverwort species richness. Mean annual temperature and rainfall of the driest month were positive predictors for bryophyte and liverwort species richness. Basal area of the treefern Dicksonia antarctica Labill. was a negative predictor of liverwort species richness. Latitude, variables relating to moisture, mean annual temperature, rainfall of the driest month and basal area of Dicksonia antarctica were the most significant components in predicting variation in bryophyte, moss and liverwort species composition. There were few relationships between the variables of canopy cover and soil nutrients and bryophyte species richness and composition. Substrate variables were found to be important components in predicting variation in moss and bryophyte species composition.

THE MOSSES OF KENT ISLAND,NEW BRUNSWICK

Thirty-nine moss species occur on Kent Island, New Brunswick. Two-thirds of the moss species found on the island have mainly boreal ranges, which reflects the cool growing season and generally boreal character of the Bay of Fundy's vegetation. One species, Rhytidiadelphus loreus, has been recorded only once previously in the province. Most moss species showed distinctive habitat distributions. Percent cover of the 12 commonest species was highest in spruce-fir forest and lowest in mountain ash stands. Sporophyte production was relatively low in all species and varied between habitats. Sporophytes were observed in fewer than 1% of 25 x 25 cm quadrats during the months of June and July. The low species richness of mosses on Kent Island relative to mainland habitats is presumably due to the island's small size, isolation from the mainland, low elevation, relatively simple plant community, and harsh physical environment.

Broad Landscape Relations of the Moss Flora from Inland Dry Rainforest in North Queensland, Australia

The moss flora of dry rainforest in north Queensland was surveyed in conjunction with a vascular plant survey. Moss species richness was strongly correlated with patch area mean annual rainfall, and vascular plant species richness. Moss species richness rises where volcanic craters within the study area increase moisture status. Geological substrate had a stronger relationship with associations within the mass flora as defined by the TWINSPAN classificatory procedure and with individual moss species than either landform category or classificatory groups of vascular plants. The association of four species with large closed canopy patches may reflect a humid microclimate and suggests that all else being equal large patches will preserve more species than many small areas of rainforest. However, a high proportion of rare species were associated with the soil surface and there was no obvious way of predicting their locality.