Altitudinal zonation of mosses in west of the Sierra Nevada of Cocuy, Boyacá, Colombia

Abstract

This study was carried out with bryophyte populations in order to study the presence of populations and how they change over altitudinal gradients. Mosses were chosen as a model to do this study because they have a high sensitivity to climatic conditions and wide distribution. The western region of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Boyacá, Colombia has a wide range of climate and ecosystems due to its complex topography. Plots were sampled every 200 m from the peak of Mount Mahoma at 4,200 m a.s.l. south to the Chicamocha River canyon at 1,200 m a.s.l. Diversity and cover are analyzed in each plot from soil, rock and bark substrates. We found 80 species distributed in 29 families, with Pottiaceae and Brachytheciaceae the most diverse families. Ours results show a tendency of the diversity and the coverage to increase with altitude, and we observed five altitudinal belts with three populations defined by mosses species. The Páramo and Superpáramo belts are the richest ones.

Niches and guilds of bryophytes along a 3000-meter elevational gradient

“…Nevertheless, the law of large numbers implies the averages of our crude scores should approximate fine distinctions as sample size increases. Our idea was to expand on the type of studies that inspired us by scoring microsites (Kenkel & Bradfield 1986) at many mesosites (Stehn et al 2010) along as long an elevational gradient as we could feasibly visit in a continuous landscape (Mejia et al 2020). If one studies a long enough ecological gradient, be it elevation or latitude or continentality, that gradient is going to be important.…”

Biodiversity in mountain soils above the treeline

“…Biocrust activity status, in turn, is regulated by morphological, physiological, and local microclimatic conditions (Longton, 1988;Tamm et al, 2018). Additional variables affecting biocrust occurrence include elevation, aspect, snowpack, dust input in alpine areas, as well as standing vegetation (Miller, 2009;Sun et al, 2013;Mejia et al, 2020;Peer et al, 2022). Across four mountain ranges at high elevation in Ladakh, India, cyanobacterial occurrence along an elevational gradient from 3,700-5,970 m was mainly determined by the studied mountain range, but also elevation and vegetation type were relevant (Reháková et al, 2011).…”

Bryophyte Diversity and Distribution Patterns along Elevation Gradients of the Mount Etna (Sicily), the Highest Active Volcano in Europea

“…In mountain areas, the elevation gradient causes changes in moisture, temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation. Thus, the knowledge of richness, abundance, and distribution of species and their assemblage along the altitudinal gradients provide us with data to study the relationships between species diversity and climate change [ 7 , 8 , 9 ] and improve conservation strategies [ 10 ]. The many studies to date have focused on relatively few taxonomic groups, in particular vascular plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates [ 11 ].…”