Aulacomnium androgynum
Aulacomnium androgynum (Hedw.) Schwägr.
Aulacomniaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Perennial acrocarpous moss forming pale to yellow green tufts. Shoots erect, sparsely branched, ca. 1–3 cm long, tomentose in their lower part. Leaves erect, oval to narrowly lanceolate, acute, irregularly dentate in the upper part. Nerve ends below leaf apex. Unisexual, rarely with sporophytes. Spore capsule inclined to horizontal, narrowly elliptical, born on long seta, the lid conical. Forms numerous spherical groups of green gemmae on long pseudopodia at shoot tips.
Habitats and populations. Grows on decaying wood, rarely on decaying grass tufts, peat or shaded rocks, mainly in forest habitats. Populations have restricted distributions and low density. The species has a good potential for local dispersal via gemmae but very low ability for longer distance dispersal due to the rare spore production.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Belasitsa Mts (between the Kolarovo and Samuilovo villages), Rhodopi Mts (Central – above the town of Asenovgrad).
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula, Europe, E, C and SW Asia, N Africa, Macaronesia, North America, and the southern part of South America. Characteristic of temperate climates.
Threats. The species is sensitive to the decrease of air humidity due to cutting down of the forest. The small number of populations makes it sensitive to stochastic processes.
Conservation measures taken. The locality in Belasitsa Mt. is within Belasitsa Nature Park and in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. To study the dynamics of the 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 1962a; Ganeva & Düll 1999.
Author: Rayna Natcheva
