Scleropodium touretii
Scleropodium touretii (Brid.) L.F. Koch
Brachytheciaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Perennial robust pleurocarpous moss forming yellowish green or pale green glossy tufts. Stems 3–8 cm long, slightly branched. Branches with blunt tips, various in length, with appressed and overlapping leaves. Leaves very concave, ovate or triangular-cordate (heart-shaped) with short tips, slightly toothed towards tip, sometimes with longitudinal folds. Nerve single, ending half way up leaf or short and double. Sporophyte inclined, smooth, with sharp conical lid, on high papillate stalk. Unisexual.
Habitats and populations. Plants grow on grassy places in forest or shrub communities, also in pastures in oak forests belt.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Black Sea Coast (Southern – along the road to Begliktash and near Rezovo village), West Frontier Mts (Ograzhden Mt – Platanus orientalis forest in Strumeshnitsa River valley), Valley of Struma River (Southern – Vlahinska River valley near the town of Kresna), Belasitsa Mt (at foot of the mountain between the town of Petrich and Belasitsa village), Pirin Mts, Rhodopi Mts (Eastern – Golyamo Kamenyane village).
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, R Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia) and other parts of Europe (UK, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Mediterranean region), N Africa. Oceanic/sub-Mediterranean species.
Threats. Proximity to human settlements, soil contamination by wastes, forest clearance, agricultural activities. The species is characterized by low potential for sexual reproduction.
Conservation measures taken. The locality in Pirin Mt. is not precisely reported and it is not clear if it is in the area of Pirin National Park. Some localities are within sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Long-term study, assessment of trends in habitat changes, prognosis for populations development and based on this, identification of conservation measures.
References. Petrov 1962a; Stefanoff & Petrov 1962; Ganeva 2002, 2010
Author: Anna Ganeva
