Moss flora of two Alpine glacial and periglacial sites on crystalline and carbonatic bedrock
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Mosses are important pioneer organisms in cold and wet habitats, such as glacial and periglacial habitats of the European Alps. These habitats include glaciers and rock glaciers, respectively, and are of increasing interest for being directly threatened by climate change and for hosting a specialized and often rare and endemic biodiversity (EU Habitats Directive, habitat code 8340, Natura 2000 network). However, the moss flora of rock glaciers was never studied, and, in general, few studies were performed specifically on mosses of ice-related landforms in the European Alps. The aim of this work is to give a first comparative checklist from two Alpine sites, the rock glacier of Lazaunkar (Bolzano, Italy) and the debris-cover glacier and rock glacier of Cima Uomo (Trento, Italy), with different bedrock compositions. Threatened species (according to IUCN red lists) and extremely specialized high-elevation species were found in both sites, but mostly on crystalline bedrock in Lazaunkar. This biodiversity is the most threatened by climate change. These findings highlight how these habitats still need to be studied and monitored in the future.
How to Cite

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.