Classification And Flora Of Amblystegiaceae,Brachytheciaceae And Hypnaceae Of Xinjiang

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region lies in the northwest of China. It is the largest province of China. Xinjiang is situated in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, bordering with Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, etc. In this area, many types of flora blend. It makes Xinjiang distinctive in species diversity and flora. Amblystegiaceae, Brachytheciaceae and Hypnaceae are mainly distributed in the North Temperate Zone. In the present study, species diversity, flora, and a comparison of floristic elements of the three families between Xinjiang and adjacent areas have been done. Results are as follows:1.1892samples of the three families from28regions of Xinjiang have been collected. They belong to115species and39genera. Among them,34species of16genera belong to Amblystegiaceae,51species of12genera to Brachytheciaceae and30species11genera to Hypnaceae.4genera and37species are new to Xinjiang.2. The species diversity of3families is after that of India and Russia. Ten dominant genera including75species account for25.64%of the total number of genera and65.22%of the species respectively. The North Temperate element is the dominant one. And Brachythecium is the richest genus, which accounts for21.74%of the total species of these3families.3. The flora of Amblystegiaceae, Brachytheciaceae and Hypnaceae of Xinjiang was divided into9areal-types. It is dominated by the North Temperate element representing52.08%of the total species, followed by East Asia element (25.01%) and Endemic to China element (10.41%). The remainder is little (12.50%).4. The comparison of genus and species composition between Xinjiang and7adjacent areas shows that Xinjiang possess the closest similarity affinities of genera with Russia, Inner Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Tibet; and with Inner Mongolia, Russia, Tibet, Kazakhstan in the similarity of species. Both Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia belong to Xinjiang-Inner Mongolia region and the present result proves the scientific nature and justifiability of Wu Peng-cheng and JIA Yu’s theory. Xinjiang and Russia have a higher similarity in species composition, which shows that Xinjaing is closely related with Russia, and even with Europe in moss flora. The result of SPSS cluster analysis reveals that Xinjiang has the closest relatives with Inner Mongolia, and closely associated with Russia.5. Among the communities of3families, Geophytia and Petrophytia are dominant, followed by Epixylophytia, and Hypdrophytia is minimumly distributed. The Geophytia is represented by Brachythecietum and Hypnetum. Petrophytia represented by Hygrohypnum is mainly Hygro-petrophytia. And Pylaisia is the representative of Epixylophytia. Drepanocladus, Calliergon, and Hygrohypnum are the common species of Hypdrophytia.