The international team of UK, US and Chilean ecologists, taxonomists and philosophers explored the world’s southern-most forests and tundra ecosystems to estimate the diversity of the dominant vegetation, namely tiny mosses and lichens growing on trees, soils and rocks.
In move to extend their studies away from the Northern Hemisphere, the team wanted to observe the regions of the world where the species richness of flowering plants and mammals is low.
The paper, “Changing lenses to assess biodiversity: patterns of species richness in sub-Antarctic plants and implications for global conservation,” assess the areas’ regional and global significance. The work is published online in the journal Frontiers of Ecology and the Environment.
Refocusing conservation efforts
Much of today’s conservation strategies focus on “charismatic mega fauna” such as pandas, tigers, and whales; or on vascular plants such as giant redwoods and orchids.
Ricardo Rozzi (University of North Texas and Universidad de Chile) and colleagues from Chile are pushing for the integration of other less conspicuous but no less important organisms in regional biological inventories.
Their research compares the geographical distribution of species of vascular and non-vascular plants in southern South America, from the tropics to Cape Horn. These plants include mosses, liverworts, and lichens, which are important pioneer species that colonise bare rocks and soil.
They occur throughout the world, in virtually all ecosystems, contributing to the flow of nutrients and the overall water balance, particularly in areas where they are abundant (for example, tropical montane forests, temperate rainforests and peatlands).
Globally, vascular plants are 20 times more abundant than non-vascular plants, with the global figures of 300,000 vascular plant and 15,000 non-vascular species. Yet, the team points out that in the sub-Antarctic Magellanic ecoregion non-vascular plants such as bryophytes (mosses) are dominant.
According to the researchers, the contrasting biodiversity trends between vascular and nonvascular plants point to the limitations arising from relying on a restricted set of indicator species to define conservation priorities.
They also point out the benefits of international collaborations in reaching broader audiences.
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Date Published: October 25, 2007
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