Hypnum fertile
Hypnum fertile Sendtn.
Hypnaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(iii)]. The species is listed in the Red Data Book of European Bryophytes as ‘Regionally threatened’.
Morphology and biology. Perennial pleurocarpous moss. Tufts green or yellowish green, flat, glossy. Stems up to 10 cm long, almost pinnately branched, orange brown, creeping and closely attached to the substratum by rhizoid sheaves. Stem leaves 1.5–2 mm long, ovate-lanceolate, curved in one direction, concave, with short spaced teeth in upper narrowed leaf part. Branch leaves smaller, with wide leaf point, toothed in upper half. Nerve double, thin and short. Sporophytes 2–2.2 mm long, inclined, on long red to yellowish red stalk, 13–35 mm. Bisexual.
Habitats and populations. Plants grow on decaying wood, rarely on rocks and humus in coniferous forest belt.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Pirin Mts (in the vicinity of Banderitsa chalet).
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Serbia) and other parts of Europe (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Poland, Baltic region, C and SW Russia), Caucasus, NE and E Asia, North America. Northern sub-oceanic montane species.
Threats. Changes in habitat conditions, building of sport installations, infrastructure extend. The habitats in this region are rapidly destroyed as a result of building of sport installations. Thus the species faces criterion CR B2ab(iii). However, its wider distribution on the Balkans and its good dispersal potential allow the vulnerability to be reduced in rank by one level in accordance to guidelines for using IUCN categories at regional level
Conservation measures taken. Although the species locality is in area of Pirin National Park, it is close to Banderitsa chalet.. The locality is in the site of Natura 2000 ecological network.
Conservation measures needed. Long-term study, assessment of trends in habitat changes, and prognosis for population development; legal protection of the species.
References. Kuc et al. 1965; ECCB 1995; IUCN 2003.
Author: Anna Ganeva
