Forest floor termite structures in Amazonia are attractive substrates for certain taxa of Fissidens (Bryophyta), four of which appear to grow preferentially on termite structures. A degree of adaptive co-evolution is suggested for the taxa which prefer the termite nest substrate because the termite structures provide an organically enriched naked soil-like substrate for the Fissidens, elevated above the forest floor leaf litter. Also, the protective overlapping growth pattern of the Fissidens plants may function to abate rain fall erosion of the termite structures. Fissidens, with 18 taxa collected from Amazonian termite structures, is by far the most important bryophyte exploiting this habitat; only a few other mosses and a few hepatics have been collected—irregularly—from the termite structure substrate.
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1 June 2002
The Fissidens Flora of Amazonian Forest Floor Termite Structures
William D. Reese,
Ronald A. Pursell
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The Bryologist
Vol. 105 • No. 2
Summer 2002
Vol. 105 • No. 2
Summer 2002