CHANGES IN BRYOPHYTES
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CHANGES IN THE BRYOPHYTE FLORA OF SUFFOLK RICHARD FISK It is now over seventy years since the last account of Suffolk bryophytes was published (Mayfield, 1930), but it is hoped that a new ‘flora’ may produced before too long. The composition of any species group is bound to change during such an interval and there have been both gains and losses in the bryophytes. I do not like to use the term ‘extinct’ for who knows what may turn up and a few ‘lost’ species have been re-found in recent years. Changes in habitat are perhaps the biggest factor contributing to the losses. The disappearance of Belton bog, and drying out of other locations has led to the loss of a number of both mosses and liverworts. Others such as Antitrichia curtipendula have shown a decline nationally and are unlikely to re-appear, at least for the present. Others, though, are spreading nationally and may well become common. The status of many species is also changing, particularly epiphytes, and this is thought to be the result of lower air pollution but may also be the result of an increase in interest in bryophytes. Bryology has always been a minority ‘sport’ and in the past probably only one bryologist has been active in the county at any time. That is the situation at present though there have been up to three in recent years and we have received visits from bryologists in neighbouring counties from time to time. The dates of discovery of ‘new’ species are given in brackets, but some have been seen on only the one occasion, they are not identified in this paper. These can perhaps be classed as rare vagrants, beyond their normal distribution in Britain and probably unlikely to become established at present. There have been a number or taxonomic revisions of ‘difficult’ groups in recent years and this has added to the species list. A number of the new Bryum species are a result of such treatments. Others, like Campylopus introflexus and Lophocolea semiteres, were not even known in Britain in Mayfield’s time; they are recent immigrants from the southern hemisphere. Campylopus introflexus was first discovered in Britain in 1941, but is now abundant everywhere and Lophocolea semiteres shows signs of doing the same. During this time there have also been numerous changes to nomenclature, for some species more than once, so it is difficult to make an exact comparison to Mayfield’s work in a short paper. Some of the taxa included by Mayfield are no longer recognized and these have been ignored. In the list of losses the names used by Mayfield are given in brackets where they have changed. The nomenclature of the lists follows the latest checklist by Blockeel & Long (1998). Species not seen since Mayfield Liverworts:
Anthoceros agrestis (A. punctatus) Calypogeia sphagnicola Cladopodiella francisci (Cephalozia francisci) Kurzia pauciflora (Lepidoza setacea)
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 39 (2003)