Global patterns of moss diversity: taxonomic and molecular inferences

Abstract

Taxonomic and molecular data were utilized to test the hypothesis that moss diversity is greatest near the equator. Species richness estimates from 86 taxonomic checklists representing global moss diversity do not support the hypothesis that, in general, mosses are more species‐rich in the tropics than at higher latitudes. A significant latitudinal gradient was, however, detected for North, Central, and South American samples when analyzed alone. Taxonomic estimates of biodiversity patterns were compared to molecular estimates based on standing nucleotide diversity, and on phylogenetic diversity, the latter taking into account the historical information contained in a molecular phylogenetic tree for the mosses. Molecular estimates suggest that moss diversity is highest in the Southern Hemisphere and lowest in the Northern Hemisphere, with the tropics having an intermediate level. The differences, however, are slight, and analyses of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicate that there is virtually no generalized differentiation between major latitudinal zones. These results reflect the fact that virtually all moss lineages have representatives in all three latitudinal zones. At the nucleotide level, mosses best fit the pattern of “everything is everywhere”.

20,000 species and five key markers: The status of molecular bryophyte phylogenetics

“…This is particularly evident in mosses, in which the various published phylogenetic reconstructions (e.g. Tsubota et al 2004;Shaw et al 2005b;Bell et al 2007;Goffinet et al 2007;Quandt et al 2007;Wahrmund et al 2010) seem to converge on a common hypothesis of the 'backbone' relationships of the moss phylogeny. Revised classifications taking into account recent molecular data are characterized by a shift towards higher taxonomic levels ).…”

Global moss diversity: spatial and taxonomic patterns of species richness

“…Several other recent studies focusing on the issue of a latitudinal gradient for moss species richness did not find any evidence for such a pattern Mutke & Geffert, 2010;Shaw et al, 2005Shaw et al, , 2011Tan & Pó cs, 2000). We conclude that it is too early to draw any final conclusions in this matter.…”

“…Crosby et al, 1999;Magill, 2010;Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, 2010), (2) the available data on mosses is generally believed to be more reliable than that on e.g. liverworts , and (3) sampling intensity and cataloguing completeness in many tropical countries have increased (Shaw et al, 2005), actual analyses on continental or global scales are still sparse. has led to a variety of efforts to combat loss of biodiversity (Balmford et al, 2005), among them the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC).…”

Homaliodendron pulchrum, a new species of Neckeraceae from China and its phylogenetic position based on molecular data

“…These two regions are widely applied in the phylogenetic analyses of mosses (Shaw et al, 2005;Goffinet et al, 2009) and they can be more easily aligned than the nuclear ribosomal ITS at the interfamilial level. Twenty-two sequences (11 accessions of nad5 and 11 accessions of rps4) were newly produced in this study.…”