Distance, environmental and substrate factors impacting recovery of bryophyte communities after harvesting

Abstract

Aims: Bryophyte re-colonization after disturbance is largely governed by environmental conditions within disturbed forests. In particular, distance to a forest edge is an important predictor of bryophyte community re-colonization, through either direct constraints, such as dispersal limitation, or indirectly by altering environmental conditions. This study examines a range of factors -environmental, distance to an edge, substrate specific environment or local-level environment -to determine which are important in the re-colonization of bryophyte communities after forest harvesting. As bryophyte communities vary with the particular substrate inhabited, responses were examined across four substrates (rock, exposed roots, ground and CWD). Location: Tasmanian southern forests, Australia.Methods: Bryophyte composition was examined on four substrates (ground, coarse wood debris, exposed roots, rocks) within three ages (~7, ~27 and ~45 years postdisturbance) of harvested wet eucalypt forest. Re-colonization success of bryophyte communities was determined by comparing communities in regeneration forest to mature forest communities using axis scores from one-dimensional constrained ordination.The importance of various environmental conditions for re-colonization success was then modelled. Finally, path analysis was used to determine whether the impact of distance to a forest edge was meditated through its effects on key environmental variables. Results:Multiple environmental factors impacted re-colonization of mature bryophyte communities. Local-level conditions such as microclimate (temperature, humidity and VPD) and LAI were the most important in determining re-colonization across substrates. Path analysis showed that distance to a forest edge had a significant impact on re-colonization success, but only a relatively small part of this was mediated through its impact on environmental factors. Conclusions:Bryophyte re-colonization is driven by a combination of microclimate conditions and factors related to distance from a forest edge (most likely dispersal distance). While some substrate-specific factors impact bryophyte re-colonization success, the consistent impact of local environmental factors across substrates suggests that harvesting management strategies that develop more 'mature' microclimate conditions and increase proximity to nearby mature forest patches will be beneficial Nomenclature: Online catalogue of Australian mosses (AusMoss) for mosses; Checklist of Australian Liverworts and Hornworts (http://www.anbg.gov.au) | 65

Using Count Data Models to Predict Epiphytic Bryophyte Recruitment in Schima superba Gardn. et Champ. Plantations in Urban Forests

“…Although bryophytes have poikolohydric characteristics, which enable them to adapt to drought conditions, atmospheric moisture content was still found to be the most important factor that limiting their growth because of their lack of roots and effective water conducting tissues. Therefore, bryophytes, especially in the early stages of colonization, preferred the cool and moist microclimate prevalent on the lower, north-facing parts of S. superba trunks [7,31]. In addition, we found that human disturbance generated an inhibitory effect on the colonization of epiphytic bryophytes, which consistent with other research [70], human disturbances seeming affect microclimate stability.…”

“…In previous studies, numerous statistical techniques were used to assess the growth and development of epiphytic bryophytes, such as redundancy analysis and canonical correspondence analysis [7], the generalized linear model [31], structural equation models [32], linear mixed effect models [33], multiple regression models [34], and diverse combinations of multiple methods [14]. However, few studies have paid attention to the non-occurrence of epiphytic bryophytes.…”

Ecological niche and interspecific relationship of dominant bryophyte communities in stone walls of cities at different elevations, Guizhou, China

“…Bryophytes are primary colonizers during natural succession [8] and can thrive on diverse substrates, including bark and rocks [9] . They play a crucial role in urban ecosystems and contribute significantly to biodiversity [10,11] .…”