Biodiv Sci ›› 2023, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (4): 22649.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2022649

• Bioinventory • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Bryophytes diversity of Tianmushan National Nature Reserve, Zhejiang Province

Xing Chen1, Shuwen Tu1, Zun Dai1, Shuang Gao2, Youfang Wang1, Shichen Xing1, Bojia Wei2, Luyan Tang3, Ruiping Shi4, Xiaorui Wang5, Yongying Liu6, Dongping Zhao7, Xia Tang1, Xue Yao1, Mingshui Zhao8, Hanxing Wu8, Xiangbin Qi8, Jian Zhang9, Min Li2,*(), Jian Wang1,10,*()   

  1. 1. School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241
    2. School of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024
    3. School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001
    4. Natural History Research Center, Shanghai Natural History Museum (Branch of Shanghai Science & Technology Museum), Shanghai 200041
    5. College of Resources and Environmental Science, Shijiazhuang University, Shijiazhuang 050035
    6. Jiaozuo Normal College, Jiaozuo, Henan 454001
    7. School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021
    8. Administrative Bureau of Tianmushan National Nature Reserve, Lin’an, Zhejiang 311311
    9. School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241
    10. Shanghai Insitute of Eco-Chongming (SIEC), Shanghai 202162
  • Received:2022-11-17 Accepted:2023-03-02 Online:2023-04-20 Published:2023-04-20
  • Contact: *E-mail: limin@hebtu.edu.cn; jwang@bio.ecnu.edu.cn
  • About author:First author contact:

    #Co-first authors

Abstract:

Aim: Bryophytes are commonly overlooked in field observations and collections due to their small size, making it difficult to obtain an objective and exhaustive checklist of bryophytes in a region. As a result, there are great limitations in the general study and conservation of bryophyte diversity. Taking Tianmushan National Nature Reserve (TNNR) in Zhejiang as an example, this paper aims to investigate the diversity of bryophytes by sampling strategy combining two methods, namely floristic habitat sampling (FHS) method and plot sampling (PS) method.

Methods: Using the two sampling methods (FHS and PS), the study systematically investigated the diversity of bryophytes in different vegetation types along the elevational gradients of the reserve, and compiled a bryophyte checklist in this reserve by combining the current and historical information.

Results: There are 394 species of bryophytes obtained from 143 genera in 56 families, including 103 species of liverworts obtained from 30 genera in 16 families and 291 species of mosses obtained from 113 genera in 40 families, with 5 of these species being endangered. Compared with the historical data of the reserve, 4 families, 31 genera and 182 species were newly added in this study. Among them, 1 family, 8 genera and 33 species were newly records in Zhejiang Province. The FHS and PS methods contributed 81% and 72% of the total number of species, respectively, but when the survey was restricted to epiphytic habitats only, the total number of species and the newly added species obtained by the PS method were higher than those by the FHS method. Although the number of species from the survey of eight plots/tree (represented a high sampling effort) was significantly higher than the results of two plots/tree, the sampling results of only two plots/tree (only sampling from the 0.3 m and 1.5 m of a tree) contributed 75% of the total richness.

Conclusion: The results indicated the sampling strategy in this study obtained a high number of newly-added bryophyte species. Further, since the species composition indicates great differences in the temporal gradient, it is recommended to conduct similar surveys and studies in other nature reserves in an effort to update the bryophytes checklist of each reserve, and to provide the latest detailed information for researching bryophyte conservation.

Key words: species diversity, bryophytes, biodiversity inventory, subtropical forests