<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Terrestrial mosses dominate the ground in many vegetation types and most are long-lived perennials with highly complex canopies. Long-term population health continues through numerous wetting and drying cycles; however, extreme drought or extended wet periods may create conditions that cause some parts of the population to die or remain inactive. I examined apparent photosynthesis of fully hydrated populations of four terrestrial species of mosses occurring in leaf-free mesohabitats in temperate deciduous forests of eastern North America in order to explore photosynthetic variability of both popula-tions and species. There was high variability in rates of apparent photosynthesis among the popula-tions of mosses for all four species examined in this study. Despite this variability within species, all four species achieved similar mean rates of photosynthesis. Two years after relocation to nearly bare ground habitats, populations of three of the four species achieved similar apparent photosynthetic rates as natural popula-tions, and functioned in a similar manner.</p></abstract>

Terrestrial mosses dominate the ground in many vegetation types and most are long-lived perennials with highly complex canopies. Long-term population health continues through numerous wetting and drying cycles; however, extreme drought or extended wet periods may create conditions that cause some parts of the population to die or remain inactive. I examined apparent photosynthesis of fully hydrated populations of four terrestrial species of mosses occurring in leaf-free mesohabitats in temperate deciduous forests of eastern North America in order to explore photosynthetic variability of both popula-tions and species. There was high variability in rates of apparent photosynthesis among the popula-tions of mosses for all four species examined in this study. Despite this variability within species, all four species achieved similar mean rates of photosynthesis. Two years after relocation to nearly bare ground habitats, populations of three of the four species achieved similar apparent photosynthetic rates as natural popula-tions, and functioned in a similar manner.

Apparent photosynthesis of terrestrial mosses: An indicator of population functional health

Acta Musei Silesiae, Scientiae Naturales

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Terrestrial mosses dominate the ground in many vegetation types and most are long-lived perennials with highly complex canopies. Long-term population health...

Apparent photosynthesis of terrestrial mosses: An indicator of population functional health

Published Online: Jul 01, 2019

Page range: 45 - 52

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/cszma-2019-0006

Keywords
Apparent photosynthesis, deciduous forest, moss,

© 2019 Dale H. Vitt, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Apparent photosynthesis of terrestrial mosses: An indicator of population functional health

Published Online: Jul 01, 2019

Page range: 45 - 52

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/cszma-2019-0006

KeywordsApparent photosynthesis, deciduous forest, moss,

© 2019 Dale H. Vitt, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Apparent photosynthesis, deciduous forest, moss,