An Altitudinal Zonation of Tropical Rain Forests Using Byrophytes

Frahm, Jan‐Peter; Gradstein, S. Rob

doi:10.2307/2845548

Cited by 195 publications

(179 citation statements)

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“…It appears that in the Atlantic Rainforest of Southeastern of Brazil, high moss diversity commences in the montane zone between 500-2,700 m. According to Churchill et al (1995), Frahm & Gradstein (1991), and Gradstein (1995), the causes of the change with the elevation of epiphytic bryophytes in the tropical rain forests are incompletely understood, and altitudinal related climatic factors such as the frequency of fog, high air humidity, air temperature or light intensity in the forest, or combinations of these factors, have been considered important. Taxa × vegetational formations -Some taxa are here considered useful for the construction of a general scheme of the altitudinal zonation in the Tropical Rainforests in Rio de Janeiro, in another words, a characteristic structural component of the different vegetational formations along the elevational gradient (mainly based on the elevation ranges and geographical distributions Table 3.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Frahm & Gradstein (1991), bryophytes may be useful tools for the construction of a general scheme of the altitudinal zonation in tropical rainforests, because they are excellent climate indicators, they comprise rather few species (which facilitates identification), they have wide geographical ranges, and they are a characteristic structural component of the tropical rainforests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Moss diversity in the tropical rainforests of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil

Costa¹,

Lima²

2005

Rev. bras. Bot.

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-(Moss diversity in the tropical rainforests of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil). Moss diversity at various sites in the Tropical Atlantic Rainforest of southeastern Brazil is high, with 338 taxa distributed among 49 families and 129 genera. Comparisons of species richness in the Tropical Atlantic Rainforest in southeastern Brazil suggest that the moss flora is not uniform, and that lowland, montane, submontane, and upper montane Atlantic rainforests have very different moss floras. Montane Atlantic Rainforest has the largest number of exclusive species and the highest species richness, Sub-Montane Atlantic Rainforest has intermediate species richness, while the Lowland Atlantic Rainforest has fewer species. The high diversity of the Montane Atlantic Rainforest could be explained by the diversity of climatic, edaphic, and physiographic changes of the vegetation. Sematophyllaceae accounted for 19% of the taxa in lowland forest, Meteoriaceae for 10% of the taxa in montane forests, and Dicranaceae for 18% of the taxa in upper montane forests. Taxa with broad Neotropical distributions (40% of the total taxa) are important elements in all the forests, while taxa restricted to Brazil comprise the second most important element in upper montane and montane forests.Key words -moss diversity, rainforests, southeastern Brazil RESUMO -(Diversidade de musgos nas florestas tropicais do Rio de Janeiro, Sudeste do Brasil). A diversidade de musgos na Floresta Tropical Atlântica do Sudeste do Brasil é considerada alta, com 338 táxons, distribuídos em 123 gêneros e 49 famílias. Comparações em relação à riqueza de espécies na Floresta Atlântica do Sudeste do Brasil sugerem que a flora de musgos não é uniforme e que as florestas das terras baixas, submontana, montana e altomontana apresentam floras muito diferentes. A Floresta Atlântica Montana conta com maior riqueza específica e número de táxons exclusivos, a Floresta Submontana tem riqueza intermediária e a Floresta Ombrófila Densa das Terras Baixas apresenta menor número de táxons. A alta diversidade da Floresta Montana pode ser explicada pelos fatores climáticos, edáficos e da vegetação. Sematophyllaceae conta com 19% dos táxons na floresta de terra baixa, Meteoriaceae com 10% dos táxons na floresta montana e Dicranaceae com 18% dos táxons na floresta altomontana. Os táxons neotropicais (40% do total de táxons) são elementos importantes para todas as florestas, enquanto que aqueles restritos ao Brasil são o segundo em importância para as florestas altomontana e montana.Palavras-chave -diversidade de musgos, florestas tropicais, Sudeste do Brasil 1.Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Pacheco Leão 915, 22460-030 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 2.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moss diversity in the tropical rainforests of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil

Costa¹,

Lima²

2005

Rev. bras. Bot.

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“…Bryophytes are known to be good indicators of changes in temperature and humidity (55) and may be more useful than many plants in which responses to climate change can be complicated by indirect influences acting through the soil (56). Petricolous organisms like G. laevigata are also particularly useful as pollution bioindicators, because they cannot pick up metals from the soil, a process that confounds the correlation between air pollution and metal accumulation in other plants, even other mosses (57).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryptic species within the cosmopolitan desiccation-tolerant moss Grimmia laevigata

Fernandez

Shevock

Glazer

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The common cushion moss Grimmia laevigata (Bridel) Bridel grows on bare rock in a broad range of environments on every continent except Antarctica. As such, it must harbor adaptations to a remarkably broad set of environmental stresses, the extremes of which can include very high temperatures, prolonged nearly complete desiccation, and high ultraviolet B (UVB) exposure. Yet, like many mosses, G. laevigata shows very little morphological variability across its cosmopolitan range. This presents an evolutionary puzzle, the solution to which lies in understanding the phylogeographic structure of this morphologically simple organism. Here we report the results of an analysis of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) in G. laevigata, focusing on individuals from the California Floristic Province. We found evidence that populations within California constitute two distinct geographically overlapping cryptic species. Each clade harbors multiple private alleles, indicating they have been genetically isolated for some time. We suggest that the existence of cryptic species within G. laevigata, in combination with its life history, growth habits, and extreme desiccation tolerance, makes this moss an ideal research tool and a candidate for a biological indicator of climate change and pollution.amplified fragment length polymorphisms ͉ bioindication ͉ California Floristic Province ͉ Grimmiaceae ͉ phylogeography

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“…Tropical rainforests, especially montane forests, are rich in epiphytic bryophytes (Richards 1984;Frahm and Gradstein 1991;Parolly and Kürschner 2004). These plants play an important role in the water balance and nutrient cycling of the forest (Pócs 1980;Nadkarni 1984;Hofstede et al 1994; but see Hölscher et al 2004), and function as substrate, food source and nesting material for numerous other rainforest organisms (e.g., Nadkarni and Matelson 1989;Yanoviak et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical distribution of epiphytic bryophytes in an Indonesian rainforest

et al. 2009

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We studied species richness, composition and vertical distribution of epiphytic bryophytes in submontane rainforest of Central Sulawesi. Bryophytes were sampled on eight canopy trees and on eight trees in the forest understorey. Microclimate was measured at trunk bases and at crown bases. The total recorded number of 146 epiphytic bryophyte species is among the highest ever reported for tropical forests and underlines the importance of the Malesian region as a global biodiversity hotspot. Species composition differed significantly between understorey trees and canopy tree trunks on the one hand, and the forest canopy on the other. Fourty-five percent of the bryophyte species were restricted to canopy tree crowns, 12% to the understorey. Dendroid and fan-like species mainly occurred in the forest understorey whereas tufts were most species rich in the tree crowns. The findings reflect the different microclimatic regimes and substrates found in the understorey and in the forest canopy. The results indicate that assessments of the bryophyte diversity of tropical forests are inadequate when understorey trees and tree crowns are excluded.

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An Altitudinal Zonation of Tropical Rain Forests Using Byrophytes

Cited by 195 publications

References 15 publications

Moss diversity in the tropical rainforests of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil

Moss diversity in the tropical rainforests of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil

Cryptic species within the cosmopolitan desiccation-tolerant moss Grimmia laevigata

Vertical distribution of epiphytic bryophytes in an Indonesian rainforest

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