Abstract

Bryophyte diversity plays an important role in forest ecosystems and is important in conservation. Based on two surveys of the bryophyte flora in West Tianmu Mountain, Zhejiang Province, China, conducted between 1977 and 1980, and 2010 and 2011, respectively, an analysis was made of changes in bryophte diversity from 1977 to 2011. We found that: (1) in the past three decades, the number of species, genera and families of bryophytes, especially of liverworts, has tended to decline; (2) Brachytheciaceae, Dicranaceae, Hypanceae and Pottiaceae remain as the dominant families; (3) the stability of families is higher than that of genera and species; and (4) the greatest changes have occurred in the buffer zone, where the number of species new to the nature reserve is the highest. Most bryophytes are distributed in the area around the entrance to the Old Openning Temple in the core zone. This area shows the highest Sørensen similarity and proportion of new liverwort species. In contrast, from the Old Openning Temple to Xianren Peak in the core zone, only a few species occur and the community exhibits the lowest Sørensen similarity. We suggest that the core zone should be regarded as a key area for bryophyte protection in the region.