Anomodon rostratus
Anomodon rostratus (Hedw.) Schimp.
Anomodontaceae
Conservation status. Critically Endangered [CR B2ab(iii)]. Included in the Red Data Book of European Bryophytes as ‘Rare’.
Morphology and biology. Perennial pleurocarpous moss forming yellow green to dark green mats. The primary shoots creeping, the secondary shoots erect, with dense short branches. Leaves appressed to the stem when dry, erect to patent when moist, oval-lanceolate, acuminate, margin narrowly recurved throughout, leaf tip ends with a colourless hair-point of varying lengths. Unisexual, rarely with sporophytes. Spore capsule erect, elongated to cylindrical, borne on long seta.
Habitats and populations. Grows in broadleaf forests on calcareous rocks, on bark at the bases of tree trunks and decaying wood, rarely on soil. The populations have restricted distribution, low density and low potential for long-distance dispersal due to the rare spore production.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Balkan Range (Central – close to the town of Teteven).
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia), W and C Europe, Caucasus, N and C America, C Asia. Sub-Mediterranean-montane species.
Threats. Major threat is habitat degradation and destruction due to clear felling and forest thinning. The species strongly depends on the presence of relatively stable forest habitats, which are intensively exploited and strongly fragmented, especially around settlements. The small number of populations makes the species vulnerable to stochastic processes.
Conservation measures taken. The species localities are within the Central Balkan National Park as well as in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. To study the dynamics of numbers and area of the populations, as well as the biology and ecology of the species in Bulgaria; to elucidate the threatening factors and monitor the populations.
References. Meinunger 1975.
Author: Rayna Natcheva
