Paul Davison
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 10:30-11:00
Bryophytes are small plants of considerable diversity. Wilfred Schofield estimated North American species richness at 1,325 mosses, 555 liverworts, and 16 hornworts. Bryophytes are well known to be refugial, and the various States’ systems of natural areas together with other protected places are important for the continued existence of many rare species. Detecting and monitoring populations of rare bryophytes by government agencies is difficult. Responses from a recent questionnaire sent by Nat Cleavitt to State Natural Heritage Programs indicated the need for regional and state bryophyte manuals, greater public awareness, increased funding and training. Certainly, more botanists need training to recognize plants that are often less than 1 mm in size and restricted to special microhabitats. In the operations of some government agencies, surveys for rare bryophytes are made by botanists with little bryophyte training. While such efforts are better than none, we should be aware of this trend and its limitations. Of the 92 rare bryophyte species on the World Red List only seven occur in North America north of Mexico. These seven species occur in central or western North America where the most common threat is habitat loss due to urbanization. Eastern North America has a number of globally threatened and regionally rare bryophytes. Those restricted to mountain summits in Southern Appalachian Abies fraseri forests are likely to be most at-risk due to fir forest decline and the compounding impacts of air pollution and predicted climate change.
Keywords: BRYOPHYTE, CONSERVATION, SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN