Bryophytes.pdf

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Wetland Bryophytes

What are What are bryophytes? Why are bryophytes important in wetlands? What are the different groups of bryophytes? Sphagnum Bryophyte preservation

What are bryophytes?What are bryophytes?Bryophytes vs. Tracheophytes

Waterproof covering cuticle Have xylem and phloem Vascular system is lignified Flowering plants, ferns,

conifers, etc.

Typically small Do not have xylem and

phloem Non-lignified No roots! External transport Thrive in hostile and

barren habitats Biochemical diversity Gametophyte is

dominant

TracheophytesBryophytes

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Believed to be the first land plants ~ 20,000 species world-wide Bryophyta: Sphagnum and the true

moss Marchantiophyta: liverworts Anthoceroptophyta: hornworts

liverwortshornworts

true moss

Sphagnum

The BryophytesThe Bryophytes

Bryophyte lifecycle: an adaptation to successBryophyte lifecycle: an adaptation to success

Plants (tracheophytes)Bryophytes

The advantage of a dominate gametophyteThe advantage of a dominate gametophyte

Bryophytes are immobile Have different life cycle

strategies from other plants Immediate fitness

If change is favorable Immediate selection

If change is unfavorable Thus bryophytes can express

new genes in the generation they first occur

Diploid plants mask deleterious genes

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Global climate modelers are realizing that peatlands have a dramatic effect on global temperatures and water movement.

The The largelarge scale of bryophytesscale of bryophytes

Bryophyte influence on the environment Hydrology Nutrient cycling and nitrogen fixation Decomposition Succession Stabilizing soil Biomass production Carbon fixation

Net primary production (in g m -2 yr -1) for wetland types

Bryophytes

TreesVascular plants

Above ground productivity in fens and bogs in Alberta, Canada

Categories of Wetland BryophytesCategories of Wetland Bryophytes

Peat mossesPeat mosses Brown mossesBrown mosses Feather mossesFeather mosses LiverwortsLiverworts Additional Additional

mossesmosses Ptilium crista-castrensis

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Feather moss

Peat moss

Liverworts

Brown moss

Other mosses

Number of Number of Sphagnum Sphagnum (peat moss) and other (peat moss) and other bryophytes in a bryophytes in a peatlandpeatland from western Canada from western Canada ((VittVitt and and

BellandBelland 1995)1995)

53443567

41282858

121679

BogPoor fenModerately rich fen

Extremely rich fen

Total

Other bryophytes

Sphagnum

Brown mosses

Not a taxonomic classification Associated with rich minerotrophic fens Brown, reddish, yellow, and golden Indication of higher pH alkaline conditions Susceptible to N deposition Commonly associated with sedges

Calliergonella cuspidata

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Tomenthypnum nitens

Feather mosses

Coniferous forest Swamp forests Shaded areas Prefers hummocks and drained sites Hylocomium splendens

Nitrogen FixationNitrogen Fixation

http://wslar.epfl.ch/mitchell/edward/Sphagnum.htmCoiled chains of Nostoc are hidden

in the leaf under light microscopy, but are readily observed as the red cells under ultraviolet-fluorescence microscopy

Pleurozium schreberi

Hyaline cells colonized by Cyanobacteria

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Nitrogen fixation by P. scherberi Biological nitrogen fixation Boreal forest nitrogen

supplies? Feather mosses contribute to

60 -80% of ground cover in boreal forest

Pleurozium schreberi common worldwide

Boreal bryophytes provide greater primary productivity then overstory vegetation

3 kg / ha yr Organic carbon accumulation in boreal forest

.5 kg / ha yr previous estimated yearly fixation by all vegetation

Pleurozium schreberi was recently found to contribute1.5 -2.0 Kg / ha yr fixation

Implications for forestry management in boreal regions

Other mosses

Bryophytes that do not fall into the previous categories

Polytrichum spp. swamps and fens

Dicranum spp. hummocks

LiverwortsLiverworts

Leaves often lobed Dorsi-ventral organization Two body plans leafy or thallose

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Liverworts vs. mossLiverworts vs. moss

1. Lack a protonema2. Have single cell rhizoids3. Have two ranked leaf arrangement

Mosses are usually 3 or 5 ranked

Liverworts differ from mosses in three main ways

Peatmoss a.k.a. Sphagnum

SphagnumSphagnum factsfacts

More living carbon in Sphagnum than in any other genus of plants worldwide

Sphagnum in northern peatlands Covers 1.5 Mkm Stores 150 Gt of carbon

Ecosystem engineer Resistant to decay Genus contains many species

~100 in the northern hemisphere ~ 19 in the Keweenaw peninsula

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Global distribution of peatlandsGlobal distribution of peatlands

Structure of Structure of SphagnumSphagnum

The Head - Capitulum

Pendent branchesDivergent branches

Stem

NO roots or rhizoids !

(fascicles)

Water adaptationsWater adaptations

http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/2152/sphagnum3.jpg

SphagnumSphagnum cell structurecell structure

25x Weight in water

PoresHyline cells

Photosynthetic cells

Fibirals

Sphagnum leafOne cell in twenty is alive

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Chemical properties of Chemical properties of SphagnumSphagnumCoping with a harsh environmentCoping with a harsh environment

Often grows in low nutrient areas Creates cation sites Contains secondary compounds

Phenolics Can translocate metabolites

COOH

+

COOH+

COOH+COOH +CO

OH

+Ca++

CationCation exchangeexchange

H+

H+

pH

Active substances are uronic acids-galacturonic acid and 5KMA

The uronic acids sometimes referred to as sphagnanHigh pH - phenolics such as sphagnum acid are active

Microtopography of SphagnumpH

3.1

3.2

3.5

4.0

capillifolium

magellanicum

recurvum

cuspidatum

fuscum2.9

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Differences in Sphagnum species in a hummock hollow complex in northern Michigan. (redrawn from Crum1992)

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Desiccation

Mosses are among the most desiccation-tolerant of all plants. They can be completely dried at the cellular level and recover completely. When re-wet after months or years of being dry, they begin photosynthesis within 5 minutes!

http://ucjeps.herb.berkeley.edu/bryolab/pww/

Known durations of desiccation survival in

bryophyte plants.

Sphagnum fuscum 2-4 dSphagnum papillosum 2-4 dSphagnum balticum 2-4 dSphagnum cuspidatum 2-4 dSphagnum magellanicum 2-4 dSphagnum magellanicum 14 dSphagnum fallax 14 dFontinalis flaccida 3 mosBarbula torquata 18 mosOxymitra 4 yrsRiccia canescens 7 yrsGrimmia laevigata 10 yrsSyntrichia ruralis 14 yrs 3Tortula muralis protonema 14 yrsRiccia macrocarpa 23 yrs

Cold tolerance

Increase sugar as natural antifreeze

Species of Species of SphagnumSphagnum in the Keweenaw peninsulain the Keweenaw peninsula

~119 species of Sphagnum worldwide 19 species of Sphagnum in the

Keweenaw Divided into sections based on:

Morphology Growing conditions

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http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/spsq70_004_lhp.jpg

Sphagnum squarrosum

Medium to robust Squarrose leaves

widely spreading Large terminal

capitulum Prefers depression Shade and moist

areas Thuja swamps

http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/spsq70_006_lhp.jpg

Sphagnum squarrosum

http://web.odu.edu/webroot/instr/sci/plant.nsf/files/10378.jpg/$FILE/10378.jpg

Sphagnum papillosum

Golden brown lawns Plump and swollen Short stubby spreading branches Brown stems Wet and acidic habitat Forms lawns and low hummocks Followed by S. magellanicum Poor fens and acid lakes

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Sphagnum papillosum

sphagnum magellanicum

http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/spma70_006_lhp.jpg

Sphagnum magellanicum

http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/spma70_004_lhp.jpg

Sphagnum magellanicum

Robust and large Grows in partial shade and in

the open Red produced as sun response Initiates hummocks Poor fen to bog Moist to dry sites Common and widespread

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Sphagnum magellanicum

Sphagnum cuspidatum

Medium to slender Grows in wet depressions Can grow submerged Long branches and leaves White to yellow Looks like a wet cat wet matted

masses

http://www.bd.lst.se/publishedObjects/10001510/bollvitmossa.jpg

Sphagnum Sphagnum wulfianumwulfianum

Robust growthClover-like capitulumGreen to yellowBrittle stemCommonGrows almost exclusively in Thujaswamps

Has a loose, shaggy, top-heavy appearance

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Sphagnum girgensohnii

http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/pubs/spgi70_001_php.jpg

Vibrant green Large with flat top capitulum When dry white streaks visible on leaves Thuja swamps Long graceful spreading branches Capitulum appears 5-rowed (star

shaped)

http://www.nps.gov/olym/crypto/M_SPGI.jpg

Sphagnum girgensohnii

Vulnerability of bryophytesVulnerability of bryophytes

Sensitive drought Have a low growth rate Very sensitive to pollution Lack of image Are not large and charismatic Lack of understanding of how they

contribute to ecosystem functioning

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Threats to BryophytesThreats to Bryophytes

Deforestation Forest cultivation Urbanization Land reclamation Road construction Wetland drainage Invasive species

Peatland lossPeatland loss

Agriculture 250,000 km2

Forestry 150,000 km2

Peat harvesting 50,000 km2

Does not include tropical peatlands

65000Total125000Total121300Estonia131300Iceland391900Lithuania81905Norway852000Netherlands22000Finland

121370Sarawak53000Sweden11410Canada505000Ukraine131930China707620Poland715760West Malaysia409631Belarus1617100USA8512000Germany

1837200Indonesia1270400Russia

% countrys peatland

Agriculture% countrys peatland

AgricultureEurope

Peatland drained or altered for agriculturePeatland drained or altered for agriculture

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Bryophyte harvesting not including Bryophyte harvesting not including peatlandspeatlands

A nontimber forest product Commercial importance increasing Harvested

Soil conditioner Cultivation medium Packing material Floral decorative

6 million dollar industry in the US With illegal harvest it is estimated as a $15

million industry in the Northwest and Appalachian region

Sustainable?Sustainable?

Can take several decades for regeneration Accumulation rate 22.4g/m /yr Commercial harvest rate of at least 21 years

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Web sitesWeb sites

Dr. Janice Glimes Online Bryology book http://www.bryoecol.mtu.edu/

International Association of Bryologist http://www.bryology.org/index.html

American Bryological and Lichenological Society (ABLS) http://www.unomaha.edu/~abls/

Moss images http://plants.usda.gov/

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