Tomentypnum nitens
Tomentypnum nitens (Hedw.) Loeske
Campyliaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Perennial pleurocarpous moss. Tufts yellowish green to golden brown, glossy. Stems 5–8 (15) cm long, irregularly pinnately branched, with sharp tips, densely covered with brown rhizoids. Leaves lanceolate-triangular, with longitudinal folds, narrowly pointed, margin entire. Nerve single, ending below leaf tip, often with rhizoids back at the base. Sporophyte on long stalk, ovate-cylindrical, curved.
Habitats and populations. Plants grow in peat bogs forming tufts between other peat mosses or in places with lax herbaceous vegetation.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Vitosha Region (Vitosha Mt – below Reznyovete peaks, Torfeno Branishte Strict Nature Reserve), Sredna Gora Mts (springs of Chumina River).
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia) and throughout most of Europe, Caucasus, N and C Asia, North America. Boreal species.
Threats. Air and water pollution, global warming, drying up, draining, eutrophication, changes in water catchments.
Conservation measures taken. Two of the species localities are in Vitosha Nature Park – Bistrishko Branishte and Torfeno Branishte Strict Nature Reserves. All localities are in sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Long-term study, assessment of the trends in habitat changes, prognosis for populations development and recommendation of appropriate conservation measures.
References. Podpéra 1911; Stefanoff & Petrov 1962; Petrov 1975.
Author: Anna Ganeva
