3. RESULTS

In this survey I found 83 species of bryophytes (67 mosses and 16 liverworts). These species are listed in Appendix 1, which also gives for each species the habitats and approximate quantity as found in this survey.

Most of these species are common in Britain. Those of most note are the mosses Amblystegium tenax, Calliergon stramineum, Plagiomnium ellipticum, P. elatum, Ulota drummondii and U. phyllantha, and the liverwort Metzgeria fruticulosa. Ulota phyllantha is one of a number of species which have strongly western distrubutions in Europe and which in Britain occur mainly in western districts with a wet and equable ‘oceanic’ climate. It was interesting to find it on several trees here, as this site is far inland in an area which does not have a particularly oceanic climate.

Bryophytes are common within the dark, heavily-shaded Sitka spruce plantations, especially the mosses Hypnum jutlandicum, Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens, Rhytidiadelphus loreus, R. squarrosus, Polytrichum commune, Plagiothecium undulatum and Eurhynchium praelongum. However, the excessive shade and thick layer of spruce needles do limit the degree to which bryophytes can cover the ground.

Bryophytes are very common in the Molinia caerulea grasslands and Eriophorum vaginatum bogs. The most characteristic species of these bogs and wet grasslands are the mosses Hypnum jutlandicum, Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens, Rhytidiadelphus loreus, Polytrichum commune, P. strictum, Sphagnum capillifolium, S. fallax, S. palustre and Aulacomnium palustre.

The drier Festuca-Agrostis grasslands have abundant mosses such as Hypnum jutlandicum, Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens, Rhytidiadelphus loreus, R. squarrosus, Dicranum scoparium, Scleropodium purum and Polytrichum commune.

The rush mires have varied assemblages of bryophytes including the mosses Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus, Calliergonella cuspidata, Calliergon stramineum, Brachythecium rutabulum, B. rivulare, Eurhynchium praelongum, Philonotis fontana, Polytrichum commune, Sphagnum fallax, S. palustre, Aulacomnium palustre, Bryum pseudotriquetrum, Plagiomnium undulatum, P. elatum and P. ellipticum, and the liverwort Lophocolea bidentata.

Along the small streams there are varied mixtures of bryophytes including the species listed above for rush mires as well as others such as the mosses Sphagnum denticulatum, Dicranella palustris, Rhynchostegium riparioides, Brachythecium plumosum, Fontinalis antipyretica, Hygrohypnum ochraceum, Amblystegium tenax, Climacium dendroides, Racomitrium aciculare, Chiloscyphos polyanthos and Scapania undulata. In some places the bryophyte flora along streams shows that the soils are more basic, or richer in lime and other plant nutrients, in contrast to the other habitats where the bryophytes show that the soils are acid and deficient in plant nutrients.

The common bryophytes which grow on the ground in the conifer plantations and grasslands also grow up the bases of many tree trunks. Further above ground most tree trunks have no more than a sparse covering of bryophytes. However, on several of the young planted rowans and willows there are interesting assemblages of tuft-forming mosses: Ulota crispa, U. bruchii, U. drummondii (a rather uncommon species in Britain), U. phyllantha (a mainly western species), Orthotrichum affine and O. stramineum.