Ecology of bryophytes along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients in New Zealand
- Six altitudinal transects through temperate rain forests were studied at different latitudes in the South and North Island of New Zealand with respect to species numbers of bryophytes, cover and phytomass of epiphytic bryophytes, composition of life forms and ratio liverworts : mosses. Phytodiversity of bryophytes is almost constant from the lowlands to the high montane belt but decreases in the subalpine belt. Similarly, phytomass and cover increase with elevation but decrease in the subalpine belt. The percentage of liverworts increases accordingly and can reach maxima of 80-90%. The most significant life forms are tails and wefts characteristic for hyperhygric conditions, pendents for cloud belts and cushions for subalpine belts. The altitudinal gradient is much stronger then the latitudinal gradient, that means the differences between the elevations within a transect are more important than the differences between the transects. They are attributed to the humidity. The temperate rain forests of New Zealand have similar bryological characteristics as the tropical rain forests in equatorial latitudes in 2000 – 3000 m altitude but differ in the drier subalpine belt and higher phytomass.
Author: | Jan-Peter FrahmGND, Ralf OhlemüllerORCiD |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-304560 |
ISSN: | 0935-5626 |
Parent Title (English): | Tropical bryology |
Publisher: | D. Quandt, Univ. Bonn, Nees Inst. für Biodiversität d. Pflanzen |
Place of publication: | Bonn |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of Completion: | 2001 |
Year of first Publication: | 2001 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2013/08/06 |
Issue: | 20 |
Page Number: | 21 |
First Page: | 117 |
Last Page: | 137 |
Note: | The layout of the electronic version of this contribution differs from the layout of the original version published in the printed volume. |
HeBIS-PPN: | 349259291 |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 58 Pflanzen (Botanik) / 580 Pflanzen (Botanik) |
Sammlungen: | Sammlung Biologie / Sondersammelgebiets-Volltexte |
Zeitschriften / Jahresberichte: | Tropical Bryology / Tropical Bryology, Volume 20 (2001) |
: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-301530 |
Licence (German): | Deutsches Urheberrecht |