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Inspire Session

Session: From the Desert to the Arctic: Ecological Significance of Bryophytes Across Systems

INS 15-8 - Dryland bryophytes and trait-based ecology

Thursday, August 18, 2022

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM EDT

Location: 520A

Presenting Author(s)

MS

Mandy Slate

University of Colorado, Boulder
Boulder, CO, United States

Co-author(s)

KF

Kirsten Fisher

California State University, LA
JB

John Brinda

Missouri Botanical Garden
RM

Rebecca M. Molina

University of Florida
Newberry, Florida, United States
KC

Kirsten K. Coe, PhD

Professor
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT, United States
DS

Daniel E. Stanton

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

A central goal in ecology is to better understand the connection between plant form and function. Yet while the field of trait-based ecology has flourished, bryophytes, and dryland bryophytes in particular, have remained understudied. Bryophytes are known for their remarkable ability to survive extended periods of desiccation and for being able to recover from repeated cycles of drying and rewetting. Here, we review dryland bryophyte functional strategies for surviving desiccation and rehydration, the ecological impacts of functional trait variation, and how environmental change may, in some cases, push dryland bryophytes to their limits.