Hugonnot, V. & Celle, J. 2015. A new, epiphytic, paradoxical bryophyte association from south-eastern France: the Cinclidoto fontinaloidis-Orthotrichetum sprucei. — Herzogia 28: 77–86.
The description of the Cinclidoto fontinaloidis-Orthotrichetum sprucei ass. nov. in south-eastern France is provided. This remarkable community is strongly linked to pioneer soft-wood stands in dynamic hydrosystems. The riparian forest community is characterized by a strong connectivity to the functioning of the river and one character species, Orthotrichum sprucei. Dialytrichia mucronata and Cinclidotus fontinaloides are differential species. The morphology of the main river channel, river flows and coarse sediment deposition are of prime importance in the maintenance of the association. Alluvial dynamics exert selective pressure on this temporary hygrophilic-xerophilic association, whose ecological requirements appear in this respect somewhat paradoxical.