Future directions and priorities for Arctic bryophyte research

• Main Authors: Lewis, Lily Roberta, Ickert-Bond, Steffi, Biersma, Elisabeth M, Convey, Peter, Goffinet, Bernard, Hassel, Kristian, Kruijer, Hans (J.D), La Farge, Catherine, Metzgar, Jordan, Stech, Michael, Villarreal, Juan Carlos, McDaniel, Stuart F
• Format: Review
• Language: unknown
• Published: NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 2017
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic biodiversity; Climate change
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/78377; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2016-0043

The development of evidence-based international strategies for the conservation and management of Arctic ecosystems in the face of climate change is hindered by critical knowledge gaps in Arctic floristic diversity and evolution. Particularly poorly studied are the bryophytes, which dominant the vegetation across vast areas of the Arctic, and consequently, play an important role in global biogeochemical cycles. Currently, much of what is known about Arctic floristic evolution is based on studies of vascular plants. Bryophytes, however, possess a number of features, such as poikilohydry, totipotency, several reproductive strategies, and the ability to disperse through microscopic diaspores, which may cause their responses to Arctic environments to differ from those of the vascular plants. Here we discuss several priority areas identified in the Arctic Council's â Arctic Biodiversity Assessmentâ that are necessary to illuminate patterns of Arctic bryophyte evolution and diversity, including dispersal, glacial refugia, local adaptation, and ecological interactions within bryophyte-associated microbiomes. A survey of digitally available herbarium data archived in the largest online aggregate, GBIF, across the Arctic to boreal zones, indicates that sampling coverage of mosses is heterogeneous, and relatively sparse in the Arctic sensu stricostricto. A coordinated international effort across the Arctic will be necessary to address knowledge gaps in Arctic bryophyte diversity and evolution in the context of ongoing climate change. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.