Bryophyte community diversities and expected change under a warming climate in contrasting habitats of the Torngat Mountains, Labrador

Koncz, Peter and Hermanutz, Luise and Marino, Paul and Wheeler, Julia and Cranston, Brittany (2018) Bryophyte community diversities and expected change under a warming climate in contrasting habitats of the Torngat Mountains, Labrador. The Bryologist, 121 (2). pp. 174-182. ISSN 0007-2745

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Abstract

In this study we provide the first record of bryophyte community diversities in contrasting habitats of the Torngat Mountains National Park (Labrador, Canada), a coastal mountain subarctic ITEX (International Tundra Experiment) study site. The point-intercept method was used to describe and track changes in the bryophyte community diversity (cover, species richness, diversity indices) at dry vs. wet habitats, in 2008 and 2010. The majority of species observed are common and abundant to the Canadian polar region. Bryophyte community composition differed between wet and dry habitats; Racomitrium lanuginosum, Polytrichum piliferum and P. juniperinum dominated dry and exposed habitats, whereas Drepanocladus spp., Aulacomnium spp. and Sphagnum spp. dominated wet habitats. Wet habitats were more diverse (4.8 6 2.9 vs. 1.6 6 1.2 species m–2) and had higher bryophytes cover (66.1 6 35.4% vs. 12.6 6 9.9%) compared to dry habitats. A survey of the tundra change literature, suggests that a warming climate will decrease bryophyte cover as shrub cover increases, and that the cover of certain species (e.g., Polytrichum piliferum) will likely increase in dry habitats where shrub cover is not expected to increase to the same degree.

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