Cephaloziella turneri
Cephaloziella turneri (Hook.) Müll.Frib.
Cephaloziellaceae
Conservation status. Critically Endangered [CR B2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Tiny perennial leafy liverwort forming thin mats of pale green to brownish red. Shoots filiform, simple or weakly divided, up to 7 mm long, the sterile ones usually without amphigastria. The leaves are very small, transversely inserted, divided into two acute, clearly dentate lobes to the middle or almost to the base, the dorsal lobe clearly smaller than the ventral one. Bisexual, often with sporophytes. Forms pale green or reddish angular gemmae.
Habitats and populations. Grows on wet clayey to sandy soils, in rock crevices or at road and path banks, along streams, usually in humid, shady forests with northern exposition. The populations have restricted distribution and low densities.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Strandzha Mts (between villages of Balgari and Kosti).
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula, W Europe, the Mediterranean Islands, Caucasus, N Africa, Macaronesia, the western part of North America. Oceanic-Mediterranean species.
Threats. Decrease of the air humidity as a consequence of the clear-felling and thinning of forests, tourism and tramping of the habitats.
Conservation measures taken. The population is within Strandzha Nature Park and 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. Meyer & Grolle 1968.
Author: Rayna Natcheva
