Gradient analysis of bryophytes in Jasper National Park, Alberta

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Botany
• Main Authors: Lee, Thomas D., La Roi, George H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1979
• Subjects: Tundra
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b79-112; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/b79-112

Patterns of bryophyte community characteristics, including absolute cover and alpha diversity, and the response patterns of important bryophyte species are described in relation to complex gradients of elevation and moisture in the Canadian Rocky Mountains east of the Continental Divide. Thirty stands including grasslands, wetlands, forests, rock outcrops, and tundra were quantitatively sampled for bryophytes using 50 10 × 100 cm quadrats in larger 10 × 50 m macroplots. Direct gradient analysis, using elevation as the first axis and synthetic moisture index derived from moisture indicator values of vascular species as the second axis, was used to depict the similarity relationships among stands and the response patterns of bryophyte communities and species. Bryophyte community cover is low in xeric sites and high in mesic and hygric sites, reaching a maximum of 70% in Pieea engelmannii – Abies lasioearpa forests of the subalpine zone. Bryophyte species richness of stands is positively correlated with the number of substratum types per stand; on the most abundant substratum per stand, it is positively correlated with elevation. Habitat breadth and overlap were measured for important species. Most species habitats are narrow along the moisture gradient and broad along the elevation gradient. Species with similar habitats are usually different in their substratum affinities, but notable exceptions occur.