Aphanorhegma patens
Aphanorhegma patens (Hedw.) Lindb.
Physcomitrella patens (Hedw.) Bruch & Schimp.3
Funariaceae
Conservation status. Critically Endangered [CR B2ab(iii)c(ii,iii)].
Morphology and biology. Ephemeral, annual, acrocarpous moss. Grows individually or in small groups. Shoots to 0.5 cm high. Leaves in a rosette, spatulate-lanceolate in shape, margins flat, bluntly denticulate in the upper part. Nerve ends below leaf apex. Bisexual. Spore capsule on very short seta, hidden among the perichaetial leaves, ovoid, cleistocarpous.
Habitats and populations. Grows on wet, bare, clayey soils and mud on the bottoms and banks of periodically dry ponds, pools, ditches, irrigation canals, wet meadows, also banks of lakes and streams. The numbers of populations and subpopulations strongly varies depending on the climate (precipitation and temperature) at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Danubian Plain (by Obnova village), Thracian Lowland (the fishery farm close to Plovdiv).
General distribution. Europe, NE Asia, North America. Characteristic of temperate climates.
Threats. Negative factors are intensification of agriculture, land abandonment, drying up of irrigation canals and the overgrowth of suitable habitats with more competitive species. The species strongly depends upon moderate habitat disturbance, which creates suitable temporary microhabitats.
Conservation measures taken. None.
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. Petrov 1956b, Natcheva 2007.
Author: Rayna Natcheva
