On Some Cases of Singular Behavior of the Moss Peristome

Lazarenko, A. S.

doi:10.1639/0007-2745(1957)60[14:oscosb]2.0.co;2

Cited by 8 publications

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“…In most species, the peristome teeth close in response to increasing humidity, and thus cover the capsule opening, but the reason for this is still unclear. It has been suggested that the main reason is to prevent spore release under wet conditions, and only allow dispersal during dry conditions when the peristome is open and spores can be shaken out by forces such as the wind (Ingold 1965), while others have suggested that the peristome movement in itself actively promotes spore release (Lazarenko 1957;Mueller 1973). The literature on the subject is old (cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air humidity thresholds trigger active moss spore release to extend dispersal in space and time

et al. 2015

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Summary1. Understanding the complete dispersal process is important for making realistic predictions of species distributions, but mechanisms for diaspore release in wind-dispersed species are often unknown. However, diaspore release under conditions that increase the probability of longer dispersal distances and mechanisms that extend dispersal events in time may have evolutionary advantages. 2. We quantified air humidity thresholds regulating spore release in the moss Brachythecium rutabulum. We also investigated the prevailing micrometeorological conditions when these thresholds occur in nature and how they affect dispersal distances up to 100 m, using a mechanistic dispersal model. 3. We show that moss spores were mainly released when the peristome teeth were opening, as relative air humidity (RH) decreased from high values to relatively low (mainly between 90% and 75% RH). This most often occurred in the morning, when wind speeds were relatively low. Surprisingly, the model predicted that an equally high proportion of the spores would travel distances beyond 100 m (horizontally) when released in the wind conditions prevailing during events of RH decrease in the morning, that lead to peristome opening, as in the highest wind speeds. Moreover, a higher proportion of the spores reached high altitudes when released at the lower wind speeds during the morning compared to the higher speeds later in the day, indicating a possibility for extended dispersal distances when released in the morning. Dispersal in the morning is enhanced by a combination of a more unstable atmospheric surface layer that promotes vertical dispersal, and a lower wind speed that decreases the spore deposition probability onto the ground, compared to later in the day. 4. Our study demonstrates an active spore release mechanism in response to diurnally changing air humidity. The mechanism may promote longer dispersal distances, because of enhanced vertical dispersal and because spores being released in the morning have more time to travel before the wind calms down at night. The mechanism also leads to a prolonged dispersal period over the season, which may be viewed as a risk spreading in time that ultimately also leads to a higher diversity of establishment conditions, dispersal distances and directions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air humidity thresholds trigger active moss spore release to extend dispersal in space and time

et al. 2015

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“…These factors include accessibility to transport vectors, survival in harsh conditions during and after transport, establishment success and persistence (van Zanten & Pócs, ; Medina et al ., ). Spore release mechanisms, including those related to xero‐ or hygrocastique release (Lazarenko, ), are also a key factor. Significant intercontinental links among bryophyte floras have traditionally supported the hypothesis that current disjunctions are the result of fragmentation from a wide ancient distribution (Schofield & Crum, ; Schofield, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it really you,Orthotrichum acuminatum? Ascertaining a new case of intercontinental disjunction in mosses

et al. 2015

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Intercontinental disjunct distributions are a main issue in current biogeography. Bryophytes usually have broad distribution ranges and therefore constitute an interesting subject of study in this context. During recent fieldwork in western North America and eastern Africa, we found new populations of a moss morphologically similar to Orthotrichum acuminatum. So far this species has been considered to be one of the most typical epiphytic mosses of the Mediterranean Basin. The new findings raise some puzzling questions. Do these new populations belong to cryptic species or do they belong to O. acuminatum, a species which then has a multiple‐continent disjunct range? In the latter case, how could such an intercontinental disjunction be explained? To answer these questions, an integrative study involving morphological and molecular approaches was conducted. Morphological results reveal that Californian and Ethiopian samples fall within the variability of those from the Mediterranean Basin. Similarly, phylogenetic analyses confirm the monophyly of these populations, showing that O. acuminatum is one of the few moss species with a distribution comprising the western Nearctic, the western Palaearctic and Palaeotropical eastern Africa. Pending a further genetic and phylogeographical study to support or reject the hypothesis, a process of long‐distance dispersal (LDD) is hypothesized to explain this distribution and the origin of the species is suggested to be the Mediterranean Basin, from where diaspores of the species may have migrated to California and Ethiopia. The spore release process in O. acuminatum is revisited to support the LDD hypothesis, © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2016, 180, 30–49.

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Spores potentially dispersed to longer distances are more tolerant to ultraviolet radiation: A case study in the moss genus Orthotrichum

Estébanez

Medina

Caparrós

et al. 2018

American J of Botany

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UV tolerance determines moss spore viability, as indicated by germination capacity and ultrastructural damage, and differs between spores of species with different dispersal strategies. Specifically, the higher UV tolerance of xerochastic spores may enable them to be dispersed to longer distances than hygrochastic spores, thus extending more efficiently the distribution range of the corresponding species.

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On Some Cases of Singular Behavior of the Moss Peristome

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Air humidity thresholds trigger active moss spore release to extend dispersal in space and time

Air humidity thresholds trigger active moss spore release to extend dispersal in space and time

Is it really you,Orthotrichum acuminatum? Ascertaining a new case of intercontinental disjunction in mosses

Spores potentially dispersed to longer distances are more tolerant to ultraviolet radiation: A case study in the moss genus Orthotrichum

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