Tortula protobryoides
Tortula protobryoides R.H. Zander
Pottia bryoides (Dicks.) Mitt.3
Pottiaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(iii)c(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Annual acrocarpous moss growing as individual plants or forming lax, green or brownish tufts. Stems 2–5 mm high. Leaves ovoid or broad to narrowly lanceolate, with recurved margins, sometimes with finely toothed points. Nerve stout, yellowish, projecting beyond the leaf tip which forms smooth point or smooth hair-point. Sporophyte immersed in perichaetial leaves or hardly emerged above them, without opening. Bisexual.
Habitats and populations. Plants grow on thin clay or sandy soils with calcareous bedrock in oak forest belts. Can be found also in herbaceous communities, roadsides, and ditches. Some fluctuations in population density may be observed over the years due to the environmental conditions.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Valley of Struma River (Southern – Malak Kozhuh Mt), Thracian Lowland (near Markovo village, Plovdiv district), Tundzha Hilly Country (Sakar Mt.)
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, R Macedonia, Serbia) and other parts of Europe, W Asia, western parts of North America. Sub-Mediterranean species.
Threats. Human settlement development, industry, infrastructure development, air pollution, general environmental changes.
Conservation measures taken. One of the localities is in Kozhuha Nature Monument and in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Long-term study, assessment of the trends in habitat changes, prognosis for population development and recommendation of appropriate conservation measures.
References. Velenovský 1902; Petrov 1962a.
Author: Anna Ganeva
