Article

Sergey Yu. Popov, PhD, Senior Researcher, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Biological Faculty; e-mail: sergei.popov.2015@yandex.ru
Yulia A. Makukha, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Biological Faculty

Popov S.Yu., Makukha Yu.A. 2019. Distribution patterns of Ptilium crista-castrensis (Bryophyta, Hypnaceae) in the East European Plain and Eastern Fennoscandia. Nature Conservation Research 4(1): 93–98. https://dx.doi.org/10.24189/ncr.2019.007

Ptilium crista-castrensis is one of the most common moss species in the forest zone. It is dominant in the moss layer of the blueberry and cowberry forests. At least with low abundance, it occurs almost in every forest type and mires. In addition, it is a component of the moss layer in tundra. We compiled the published annotated lists of regional bryophyte floras into a generalised dataset. We then created a map of the P. crista-castrensis model range using the kriging method. We included data from 179 locations, with data points in 39 Protected Areas. We determined climatic preferences of the species by comparing the species occurrence and climatic factors on locations. The comparison of the created model map with the map of vegetation zones allowed us to analyse the spatial distribution of P. crista-castrensis. We could demonstrate a sharp decrease of P. crista-castrensis abundance at the borders of the forest and steppe zones. By the range boundaries, this moss is a rarely occurring species, where it grows exclusively in limited pine forest patches. This species is completely lacking in the steppe zone. Its abundance has maximal values in the northern taiga subzone considered as the climatic optimum of P. crista-castrensis. In the forest zone, the occurrence of P. crista-castrensis varies from sporadically to commonly. At the northern and southern borders of the forest zone, the species occurrence is characterised as rare. A too low average temperature and precipitation are unfavourable for P. crista-castrensis in the north of the study area. At the same time, a too high temperature and too low precipitation and humidity have the same effect in the south of the study area.

biogeography, distribution range, geostatistical techniques, species' climatic optimum, species' occurrence

Received: 04.06.2018. Revised: 12.01.2019. Accepted: 15.01.2019.

Afonina O.M., Chernyadyeva I.V. 1995. Mosses of the Russian Arctic: check-list and bibliography. Arctoa 5: 99–142. DOI: 10.15298/arctoa.05.07
Ahti T., Hämet-Ahti L., Jalas J. 1968. Vegetation zones and their sections in northwestern Europe. Annales Botanici Fennici 5(3): 169–211.
Belyaeva N.G., Neshataeva V.Yu. 2017. The community diversity of Nemoral birch forests of South-West of Moscow Region. Phytodiversity of Eastern Europe 11(1): 63–73. [In Russian]
BIOCLIM. 2009. BIOCLIM project. Modelling Sequential Biosphere Systems under Climate Change for Radioactive Waste Disposal. Available from: http://www.andra.fr/bioclim
Bonan G.B., Shugart H.H. 1989. Environmental factors and ecological processes in boreal forests. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 20: 1–28. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.es.20.110189.000245
Chernyadyeva I.V. 2001. Moss flora of Yamal Peninsula (West Siberian Arctic). Arctoa 10: 121–150. DOI: 10.15298/arctoa.10.13
Chernyadyeva I.V., Mežaka A., Grishutkin O.G., Potemkin A.D. 2017. Bryophytes of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve (an annotated species list). Moscow: Commision of RAS on biodiversity conservation; IPEE RAS. 30 p. [In Russian]
Demyanov V.V., Savelyeva E.A. 2010. Geostatistics: Theory and Practice, Moscow: Nauka. 327 p. [In Russian]
Dierssen K. 2001. Distribution, ecological amplitude and phytosociological characterization of European bryophytes. Bryophytorum Bibliotheca 56: 1–289.
Esseen P.A., Ehnström B., Ericson L., Sjöberg K. 1997. Boreal forests. Ecological Bulletin 46: 16–47.
GBIF. 2018. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Available from: https://www.gbif.org/
Gapon S.V. 1997. List of mosses of Ukrainian forest-steppe. Poltava: Publisher of the Poltava State Pedagogical Institute. 37 p. [In Ukrainian]
Grinnell J. 1917. The Niche-Relationships of the California Thrasher. Auk 34(4): 427–433. DOI: 10.2307/4072271
Ignatov M.S., Ignatova E.A. 2004. Moss flora of Middle Part of European Russia. Vol. 2. Fontinalaceae – Amblystegiaceae. Moscow: KMK Scientific Press Ltd. P. 609–944. [In Russian]
Kurnaev S.F. 1973. Forest vegetation zoning of the USSR. Moscow: Nauka. 203 p. [In Russian]
Kurnaev S.F. 1980. Shadow broad-leaved forests of the Russian plain and the Urals. Moscow: Nauka. 316 p. [In Russian]
Mateo R.G., Vanderpoorten A., Muñoz J., Laenen B., Désamoré A. 2013. Modeling Species Distributions from Heterogeneous Data for the Biogeographic Regionalization of the European Bryophyte Flora. PLoS ONE 8(2): e55648. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055648
Popov S.Yu. 2016. The climatic patterning of Sphagnum sect. Sphagnum species distribution in the East European Plain. Arctoa 25(2): 332–352. DOI: 10.15298/arctoa.25.26
Popov S.Yu. 2017. Modeling the species distribution range using geostatistical techniques (example of Sphagnum mosses). Transactions of Karelian Research Centre of Russian Academy of Science 6: 70–83. DOI: 10.17076/bg558 [In Russian]
Popov S.Yu. 2018. Distribution pattern of seven Polytrichum species in the East European Plain and Eastern Fennoscandia. Botanica Pacifica 7(1): 25–40. DOI: 10.17581/bp.2018.07108
Popova N.N. 2002. Bryoflora of Middle Russian Uppland. I. Arctoa 11: 101–168. [In Russian]
Silaeva T.B., Chugunov G.G., Kiryukhin I.V., Ageeva A.M., Vargot E.V., Grishutkina G.A., Khapugin A.A. 2011. Flora of the National Park «Smolny». Mosses and vascular plants: annotated list of species. Moscow: Commission of RAS for the Conservation of Biological Diversity. 128 p. [In Russian]
Söderström L. (Ed.) 1998. Preliminary distribution maps of bryophytes in Northwestern Europe. Vol. 3 (Musci J-Z). Trondheim: Mossornas Vónnar. 72 p.
Tolmachev A.I. 1974. Introduction to Plant Geography. Leningrad: Publisher of the Saint Petersburg State University. 243 p. [In Russian]
Vtorov P.P., Drozdov N.N. 2001. Biogeography. Moscow: VLADOS-PRESS. 304 p. [In Russian]