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15 January 2021 Calcicolous and calcifugous bryophytes along the desert edge of the California Floristic Province
Daniel K. Palmer, Paul Wilson
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Abstract

We studied the habitat preferences of various bryophytes on a landscape in which calcareous and granitic rocks interdigitate. On both substrates, plots were placed in sunny dry locations, shady dry locations, and along streams in wet locations. In other words, six habitat types were studied in a factorial design involving edaphics × moisture. Wet granitic habitat had the highest species richness, whereas wet calcareous habitat had the lowest species richness. In dry sites, shady plots had higher richness than sunny plots, regardless of edaphics. Particular species varied widely in their preferences with at least one species being an indicator for each of the six habitats, e.g.: “fan-form tubers Bryaceae” was specialized on granitic wet habitat; Grimmia lisae was specialized on granitic shady habitat; Grimmia montana was specialized on granitic sunny habitat; Didymodon tophaceous was specialized on calcareous wet habitat; Orthotrichum cupulatum + hallii was specialized on calcareous shady habitat; Grimmia anodon was specialized on calcareous sunny habitat. The composition of the bryophyte assemblages was very strongly affected by the interaction of calcareous-versus-granitic × dry-versus-wet; the wet calcareous assemblage was the most distinctive. To the extent possible, we classified the various species into guilds (e.g., the calcicolous rheophyte guild) taking into account generalization versus specialization. In summary, we found remarkable interactions between edaphics and wetness.

Copyright ©2021 by The American Bryological and Lichenological Society, Inc.
Daniel K. Palmer and Paul Wilson "Calcicolous and calcifugous bryophytes along the desert edge of the California Floristic Province," The Bryologist 124(1), 9-19, (15 January 2021). https://doi.org/10.1639/0007-2745-124.1.009
Received: 2 July 2020; Accepted: 11 November 2020; Published: 15 January 2021
KEYWORDS
Edaphic specialist
guilds
Mojave Desert
niches
Tehachapi Mountains
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