On Ecology Of Bryophyte Communities And Their Utilization In Landscape Construction In Shanghai

Bryophytes are morphologically special higher plants, second to angiosperms in species number. Many bryophytes are of high ornamental values. In order to utilize bryophytes to conduct greening and landscape construction,we investigated the bryophyte communities in main gardens and campuses and evaluated their landscape values. The main content and results are as follows:(1)A total of 383 sites were sampled in eighteen gardens, grasslands, and campus of universities. From these sites, 430 bryophyte specimens were collected. Based on identification of these specimens,77 species belong to thirteen families and 29 genera were recorded. In the surveyed range, the numbers of species collected from soil, saxicolous habitats, tree trunks, and thin soil on stones are 31, 18, seven and six, respectively;Pottiaceae, Brachytheciaceae, Bryaceae, Thuidiaceae、 Funariaceae are the dominant families, and Haplocladium microphyllum、Haplocladium angustifolium、 Taxiphyllum taxirameum、Haplocladium strictulum、Bryum bicolor、Physcomitrium sphaericu and Ditrichumpusillum are the dominant species.(2)Among 383 sites,each of 102 sites only has one bryophyte species,their Shannon-Wiener index being zero,and the index of 200 sites are from 0 to 1, respectively,and only 81 sites each has a diversity index of larger than 1. The diversity indexes in the surveyed sites reveal a low diversity of bryophyte species.(3)200 sites surveyed in spring and summer could be divided into eight groups by clustering analysis. Haplocladium angustifolium、Haplocladium strictulum、Taxiphyllum taxirameum、Brachythecium buchananii and so on are the dominant species of these groups. They are also the dominant species of differ-rrent communities. In the surveyed, the typical bryophyte communities areHaplocladium angustifolium –Taxiphyllum taxirameum community, Haplocladium angustifolium-Brachythecium populeum community、Haplocladium angustifoliumPhyscomitrium sphaericum community、Haplocladium strictulum-Ditrichum pusillum community、Haplocladium strictulum-Physcomitrium sphaericum communi-ty、Taxiphyllum taxirameum-Haplocladium angustifolium community、Taxiphyllum taxirameum- Brachythecium albicans community、Taxiphyllum taxirameumEurhynchium hians community、Brachythecium buchananii-Haplocladium angustifolium community、Brachythecium buchananii-Taxiphyllum taxirameum community、Brachythecium buchananii-Haplocladium microphyllum community、Brachythec-ium campylothallum community、Haplocladium microphyllum community、Haplocladium microphyllum-Taxiphyllum taxirameum community.(4)Forty sites with higher landscape values were selected to study the influences of environmental factors on bryophyte distribution by using Canonical Correspondence Analysis(CCA). The environmental factors include canopy density, humidity, substrate types, and disturbance. The results show that canopy density and humidity are the two main factors influencing the species distribution. According to their locations on the ordination plot produced by using CCA, Brachythecium kuroishicum、 Fissidens zollingeri、Brachythecium rutabulum tended to grow on humid habitats, Plagiomnium cuspidatum、Haplocladium strictulum、Barbula unguiculata on drier habitats, Ditrichum pallidu、Weissia controversa、Fissidens bryoides、Funaria hygrometrica on open habitats,Trichostomum aristatulum、Taxiphyllum taxirameum、Barbula rufidula on heavily disturbed habitats, while the substrate types have obvious influences on the distribution of Weissia edentula、Bryum bicolor、Brachythecium velutinum、Bryum argenteum.(5)Community area, landscape continuity, color and luster degree, purity of bryophytes, habitats, community, universality, and locations are selected as seven indices in landscape evaluation of bryophyte communities. Their weights were determined as 0.130, 0.092, 0.184, 0.261, 0.176, 0.111 and 0.050, respectively, by the application of Analytic hierarchy process. In order to test the validity of these indices in the landscape evaluation, we randomly selected 40 sites to conduct an evaluation, and confirmed the practical values of the method. The landscape features of the typical communities were also discussed.(6) According to the landscape characteristics of bryophyte communities, we finally proposed seven directions about how to apply bryophyte communityes to conduct garden and landscape construction in cities. By spreading moss vegetative propagules of Hypnum sp., Brachythecium sp., we could construct or namental “bryophyte carpet”, or Japanese karesansui gardens with bryophyte elements; by making greening modules with bryophytes, we could construct moss vertical green walls. We could also make bryophyte sculptures and sketc-hes. A moss community in the west Xuhui campus of Shanghai Normal University was chosen to design a Japanese karesansui gardens with moss elements.