Bryophytes  

the world of
hornworts, liverworts and mosses

The structure of the website

Introduction

What is a bryophyte ?

- What is not a bryophyte ?
- When is a 'moss' not a moss ?
- Other cryptogams

The three groups of Bryophytes

- What is a hornwort ?
- What is a liverwort ?
    - Leafy liverworts
    - Thallose liverworts
- What is a moss ?
- Which bryophyte is it ?
    - Looking at leaves
    - Leaves - Racomitrium

Life cycles

- Sporophyte development
    - Sporophytes of hornworts
    - Sporophytes of liverworts
    - Sporophytes of mosses

Reproduction & dispersal

- Vegetative
- Sexual
- Liberation & dispersal of sperm
- Sexual vs. vegetative
- Dispersal
- Dispersal by elaters
- Splash cups

Ecology

- Epiphyllous bryophytes
- Fire
- Bryophytes & cyanobacteria
- Sphagnum
- Fungal associations
- Fungi and micro-niches
- Habitats
    - Arid
    - Biological soil crusts     
    - Cyclic, ephemeral habitats
    - Microhabitats
    - Watery habitats
    - Urban Canberra

Classification & identification

- Hornworts
- Liverworts
- Mosses

Bryogeography

- Bryogeography at different levels
- What governs species' distributions ?
- Tools and hypotheses
- Old literature and new ideas
- Australia and elsewhere
- Endemic Australian bryophytes
- Problems and puzzles
- Imports and exports

History of Australian Bryology

- The earlier years
- The later years
- Handbooks of later 20th century

Case studies

Apical Cells - Growth of bryophyte gametophytes is under control of apical cells.
Baeomyces rufus - There is a cyclic swapping of dominance between bryophytes and the lichen Baeomyces rufus.
Barriers to sexual reproduction - Bryophytes may face various obstacles to sexual reproduction.
Bastow's Moss Chart - A diagramatic key to Tasmanian mosses from 1887.
Boundary layers - The slow-moving air near a surface - important to low-growing bryophytes.
Bridel-Brideri's common names - The first common names for Australian mosses were German and French.
Campylopus introflexus and Orthodontium lineare - These two mosses have spread widely through Europe.
Ceratodon purpureus after fire - The rise and fall of a pioneering, post-fire species.
Dampier's Leucobryum - A moss collected by William Dampier was mistakenly thought to have been collected in
Australia.
Eocronartium muscicola - This fungus parasitizes mosses by displacing sporophytes.
Fungal basics - Definitions of some basic fungal terms.
Genetic diversity - Spores imply diversity, vegetative propagules imply uniformity. True or false?
Hymenoscyphus schimperi - This fungus parasitizes Sphagnum squarrosum.
Hypopterygiaceae - This page looks at the bryogeography of this moss family.
Life strategies - Bryophytes don't all follow the one life strategy.
Long distance dispersal - Winds may carry bryophyte spores thousands of kilometres.
Lophozia herzogiana - Did this leafy liverwort arrive in the United Kingdom via human agency?
Oicous or oecious? - Is it monoicous or monoecious or dioicous or dioecious?
Opportunities after Fire - Fire may lead to longer term changes in bryophyte communities.
Tasmania - recolonisation after fire - A study of post-fire bryophyte recolonisation in burnt areas.
Sand - Sand presents challenges - but many species have adapted to living on sand.
Spanish grass - In arid Spain even a single grass tussock provides varied micro-habitats.
Southern diversity - Why is there such diversity in the Southern Hemisphere liverworts?
Sphagnum and the water table - How does Sphagnum handle drops in water levels ?
Syntrichia caninervis - In this desert moss both males and sporophytes are very rare.
Taxonomic changes and bryogeography - Changes in taxonomy may force changes in ideas about bryogeography
Tetraphis pellucida - Colony density determines whether reproduction is sexual or vegetative.
Trianthema humillima - The "flowering" plant Trianthema humillima is really a moss.
Australian bryology since 2000 - A listing of some recent literature, with background information on the authors.
Wood lemming - The diet of the wood lemming consists largely of mosses.

Additional information

Further reading and web links
Acknowledgements
Site map
Links to image web pages