Redshank

Apr 16, 2017

Spore dispersal of a moss, Ceratodon purpureus.

Dec 7, 2020

Abstract: With wildfires increasing in extent and severity in the Southwestern USA, practitioners need new tools to rehabilitate recently burned ecosystems. Fire mosses consist of three species, Ceratodon purpureus (Redshank), Funaria hygrometrica (Cord moss), and Bryum argenteum (Silvergreen moss). Fire mosses can colonize burned landscapes rapidly and aggregate soils but have not been widely studied. This dissertation explores the potential utility of fire moss as a post-fire ecosystem rehabilitation tool. To better understand where and how quickly mosses colonize after fire, we conducted a natural survey of moss colonization and function on 10 severely burned areas in the southwestern USA. We tested 11 landscape scale predictors of fire moss cover and found that it is most strongly influenced by equinox insolation, pre-fire vegetation type, pre-fire soil organic carbon, and time since fire. We also found that, when compared to bare soils, fire mosses increase infiltration by 50% on average and soil stability by more than 100%.

A major step in developing a new plant materials rehabilitation technique is overcoming propagule limitations using ex situ cultivation. We cultivated fire moss gametophyte fragments in the greenhouse allowing us to grow vegetative propagules with control over atmospheric, edaphic, and hydrologic conditions. In this experiment, we grew fire mosses using an easily scalable technique and commercially available materials. We found that fire moss achieved high cover in 2 months when grown on organic substrate with constant wicking hydration and a protective shade covering, but growth was not favored by addition of burned materials. We demonstrated repeated success growing these species in the greenhouse at increased scales and fine-tuned harvesting techniques to increase productivity.

To test this greenhouse grown moss in the field we conducted three sequential experiments using knowledge gained from previous experiments to fine tune fire moss delivery methods. The first two experiments began one week after full containment of a wildfire in a Pinus ponderosa forest of Arizona. First, we added disaggregated (passed through a 2mm sieve) moss tissue to burned soil surfaces, which was immediately collected by ants. In response to the unexpected herbivory pressure, we added two preparations designed to reduce predation: moss rolled into pellets using diatomaceous earth and moss ground to a powder. Pelletization increased Bryum argenteum cover and the number of distinct moss colonies when compared to untreated control plots, although cover remained low (1%). The third experiment took place in a mixed conifer forest of New Mexico, USA. Sieved moss, pelletized moss, and pelletized moss at a high (5×) application rate were added to a burned forest, four months after full containment. The high pelletized treatment increased cover to 10% after 1.5 years, but treatments largely converged afterward. At both sites, an exceptional drought during the winter of 2017-18 likely dampened moss establishment. Our results indicate that fire mosses are important colonizers after wildfire, which should be considered when making land management decisions and studied further for their utility as a rehabilitation tool.

Aug 28, 2013

Support Brilliant Botany on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/brilliantbotany

A study published in Nature last year showed that the moss Ceradon purpureus produces sex-specific volatile compounds to attract arthropods, which help with fertilization.

Source: Rosenstiel, Todd N. et al. "Sex-specific volatile compounds influence microarthropod- mediated fertilization of moss." Nature. 489.7416 (2012): 431-433. Electronic.

http://www.brilliantbotany.com

Twitter: @brilliantbotany

Have a question about the video, or anything botany-related? Post it in the comments and I'll answer it in a future video.

Thumbnail image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ceratodon_purpureus_%28g,_144705-474825%29_2259.JPG