Bryophytes of Sri Lanka: a review of past exploration and taxonomic research and priorities for the future

Rubasinghe, Sumudu C. K.; Long, David G.

doi:10.1179/1743282014y.0000000121

Cited by 10 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…Odoardo Beccari (1843-1920) had taken a lead. A review of past taxonomic explorations of Sri Lankan bryophytes is presented in Rubasinghe and Long (2014). The collections made by these past explorers were reported by mostly foreign taxonomists (details in Rubasinghe and Long, 2014).…”

Section: Biogeography Of Sri Lankan Bryophytesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sri Lanka is also endowed with enormous ecosystem diversity that diverges across its main topographical regions; central highlands (montane region), the plains and coastal belt (Gunatilleke et al, 2008). Sri Lanka is considered a biodiversity hot-spot together with the Western Ghats of India with a high level of endemism in both flora and fauna (Bossuyt et al, 2004;Gunawardene et al, 2007).The Island has been an ideal location for floral and faunal explorations for both local and foreign scientists since ancient times (O'Shea, 2003;Rubasinghe and Long, 2014). Bryological exploration of Sri Lanka was initiated during the British colonial period.…”

Section: Biogeography Of Sri Lankan Bryophytesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biogeography of Sri Lankan bryophytes: the present status

Rubasinghe

Ruklani

2017

Ceylon J. Sci.

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Bryophytes (liverworts, mosses and hornworts) are the closest living relatives of the first group of plants that successfully colonized land. This small but well-established group of plants is unique among other land plants in having a dominant gametophyte phase in their life cycle and a single unbranched sporophyte that depends on the dominant gametophyte plant. Bryophytes occur throughout the world in all continents, occupying an assortment of habitats, especially in moist shady places. Many species have broad geographic ranges that may span two or more continents. Dispersal of bryophytes is brought about by spores, vegetative propagules or by unspecialized fragments of the gametophyte.The bryophyte flora of Sri Lanka remains relatively poorly researched. According to checklists available, the Island harbours 560 mosses, 327 liverworts and five hornworts. Most of the collecting has been in the southern half of the country, especially in the Central Highlands. Exact locality details are missing for most of these specimens. There is no documentation for moss or liverwort Flora of Sri Lanka. Lack of a thorough taxonomic foundation is a major impediment to study the biogeography of Sri Lankan bryophytes. O'Shea (2003) presented a summary of current knowledge of biogeography of Sri Lankan mosses. According to his statistical analysis based on existing records Sri Lankan mosses show strong relationships with India, Indochina, and Malaysia but a much lower affinity with Africa.Here we conducted a similar study for liverworts and hornworts using Kroeber's percentage of similarity, which suggests that Sri Lankan liverworts and hornworts show a considerable similarity with those of Java, Malaysia, Thailand, and India. However, more and wider systematic field explorations and taxonomic studies are needed to understand the biogeography of Sri Lankan bryophytes. To address this, field explorations and phylogenetic studies are being carried out, and the results will contribute to elucidate the biogeographic affinities of Sri Lanka's bryophyte flora.

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Section: Biogeography Of Sri Lankan Bryophytesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biogeography Of Sri Lankan Bryophytesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeography of Sri Lankan bryophytes: the present status

Rubasinghe

Ruklani

2017

Ceylon J. Sci.

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“…The first checklists of bryophytes of Sri Lanka were published by B. A. Abeywickrama in 1978 as compilations of a limited number of literature Pethiyagoda, 2011;Long and Rubasinghe, 2014;Rubasinghe and Long, 2014). Historical records on Sri Lankan bryophyte collections date back to 18 th century Long and Rubasinghe, 2014;Ruklani and Rubasinghe, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Almost all the bryophyte collectors in the past were from foreign countries, and a detailed description of these collectors and their studies is given in Rubasinghe and Long (2014). A considerable percentage of bryophytes collected in the past remain in different herbaria throughout the continents and the National Herbarium of Sri Lanka contains only a few specimens (Table 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a general scarcity of literature sources with detailed descriptions on bryophytes in Sri Lanka. However, there are no records on endemic liverworts and hornworts and these two groups of bryophytes are the least studied groups of bryophytes in Sri Lanka (Gunawardene et al, 2007;Rubasinghe and Long, 2014).The liverwort checklist of includes 16 species of complex thalloids in 9 genera and 4 families (Abeywickrama andJansen, 1978 a). According to the most recently updated checklist of liverworts and hornworts complex thalloids in Sri Lanka consist of 9 families; Aytoniaceae, Blasiaceae, Cyathodiaceae, Dumortieraceae, Exormothecaceae, Lunulariaceae, Marchantiaceae, Ricciaceae and Targioniaceae, 10 genera: Plagiochasma and Reboulia, Blasia, Cyathodium, Exormotheca, Lunularia,Marchantia, Riccia and Targionia and 17 species .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Morphological Diversity of Complex Thalloid Liverwort Genera of Sri Lanka

Ruklani

Rubasinghe

Long

2016

Ceylon J. Sci. (Biol. Sci.)

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As part of a study initiated to trace the evolutionary relationships and biogeographic affinities of Sri Lankan complex thalloid liverworts, we here present the morphological diversity of Sri Lankan complex thalloid liverworts. This serves as the first detailed taxonomic study of the group in Sri Lanka. Specimens were collected from different geographical regions covering almost all topographic and climatic zones of the country. This study revealed 9 genera of complex thalloid liverworts in Sri Lanka. Based on our collections and identifications we prepared a generic key to Sri Lankan complex thalloid liverworts. Taxonomic descriptions were prepared for all identified genera.

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