Scapania compacta
Scapania compacta (A. Roth) Dumort.
Scapaniaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Perennial leafy liverwort. Stems 0.5–2 cm long with ascending tips. Leaves bilobed with lobes almost of the same size and folded together face to face. Dorsal (upper) lobe with entire margin. Ventral (lower) lobe with entire or obscurely toothed margin, spread. Perianths common, rectangular or ovate. Vegetative propagation is by means of ellipsoid, 2-celled yellowish green or brown gemmae. Unisexual or bisexual.
Habitats and populations. Plants form individual yellowish brown or occasionally green patches, or grow mixed with other bryophytes on moist sandy and clay soils, or on soil in rock crevices in the oak forest belts. The species is characterized by limited distribution, low population density and low growth rate.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Strandzha Mts (Milkovo Dere locality near the town of Malko Tarnovo, and the Veleka River valley facing Gramatikovo village).
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia) and most other parts of Europe except Iceland, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, N Africa, W Asia, Sub-arctic America. Sub-oceanic/sub-Mediterranean species.
Threats. Forest clearance, changes in humidity and light intensity in species habitats, air pollution.
Conservation measures taken. The localities are in Strandzha Nature Park and in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Monitoring of changes in population size and changes in habitats ecological conditions, developing of action plans.
References. Petrov 1963.
Author: Anna Ganeva
