Ecology of Bryophytes in Mojave Desert Biological Soil Crusts: Effects of Elevated CO<span class='sub'>2</span> on Sex Expression, Stress Tolerance, and Productivity in the Moss <span class='italic'>Syntrichia caninervis</span> Mitt.

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511779701.010

9 - Ecology of Bryophytes in Mojave Desert Biological Soil Crusts: Effects of Elevated CO2 on Sex Expression, Stress Tolerance, and Productivity in the Moss Syntrichia caninervis Mitt.

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2012

John C. Brinda and

Edited by

Nancy G. Slack and

John C. Brinda: Affiliation:
University of Nevada, USA
Catherine Fernando: Affiliation:
University of Nevada, USA
Nancy G. Slack: Affiliation:
Sage Colleges, New York
Lloyd R. Stark: Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Introduction

The arid shrublands and open woodlands of the North American deserts generally support a sparse vascular plant cover. In these and similar environments, the surfaces unoccupied by taller vascular plant species are often colonized by a unique assemblage of organisms collectively referred to as “biological soil crusts” (Belnap & Lange 2003). This assemblage is extremely diverse phylogenetically, including various species of cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, and lichens as well as bryophytes. These disparate species have been thrown together under one umbrella label due to the specialized niche that they inhabit. Their small size and close association with the soil surface make the term “biological soil crust” particularly appropriate.

Biological soil crusts have received a fair amount of attention and study but bryophytes represent one of the less well understood aspects of this community. In arid landscapes like the Mojave Desert, the bryophyte component in soil crusts is generally made up of mosses in the family Pottiaceae (e.g., species in the genera Syntrichia, Pterygoneurum, Crossidium, Didymodon, and Tortula). In his monographic treatment of the family, Zander (1993) states that the Pottiaceae form a conspicuous part of the vegetation of arid, ruderal, alpine, and Arctic areas. These are also conditions under which biological soil crusts can play a prominent role. As characteristic inhabitants of these extreme environments, bryophytes of biological soil crusts exhibit many morphological and physiological adaptations to stress that remain poorly understood (Zander 1993).

Type: Chapter
Information: Bryophyte Ecology and Climate Change , pp. 169 - 190

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779701.010 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alpert, P. (1989). Translocation in the nonpolytrichaceous moss Grimmia laevigata. American Journal of Botany 7: 1524–9.Google Scholar

Baars, C. & Edwards, D. (2008). Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on spore capsules of the moss Leptobryum pyriforme. Journal of Bryology 30: 36–40.Google Scholar

Barker, D. H., Stark, L. R., Zimpfer, J. F., McLetchie, D. N. & Smith, S. D. (2005). Evidence of drought-induced stress on biotic crust moss in the Mojave Desert. Plant, Cell & Environment 28: 939–47.Google Scholar

Bazzaz, F. A., Paolillo, D. J. & Jagels, R. H. (1970). Photosynthesis and respiration of forest and alpine populations of Polytrichum juniperinum. Bryologist 73: 579–85.Google Scholar

Belnap, J. & Lange, O. L. (2003). Biological soil crusts: structure, function, and management. Ecological Studies 150: 1–503.Google Scholar

Belnap, J., Prasse, R. & Harper, K. T. (2003). Influence of biological soil crusts on soil environments and vascular plants. Ecological Studies 150: 281–300.Google Scholar

Berendse, F., Breemen, N., Rydin, H., et al. (2001). Raised atmospheric CO2 levels and increased N deposition cause shifts in plant species composition and production in Sphagnum bogs. Global Change Biology 7: 591–8.Google Scholar

Björkman, O., Gauhl, E., Hiesey, W. M., Nicholson, F. & Nobs, M. A. (1968). Growth of Mimulus, Marchantia, and Zea under different oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. Carnegie Institution of Washington Yearbook 67: 477–8.Google Scholar

Browning, A. J. & Gunning, B. E. S. (1979). Structure and function of transfer cells in the sporophyte haustorium of Funaria hygrometrica Hedw: III. Translocation of assimilate into the attached sporophyte and along the seta of attached and excised sporophytes. Journal of Experimental Botany 30: 1265–73.Google Scholar

Carter, D. W. & Arocena, J. M. (2000). Soil formation under two moss species in sandy materials of central British Columbia (Canada). Geoderma 98: 157–76.Google Scholar

Coe, K. K., Belnap, J. & Sparks, J. P. (2008). Physiological ecology of the desert moss Syntrichia caninervis after long-term exposure to elevated CO2: changes in photosynthetic thermotolerance? [abstract]. American Bryological and Lichenological Society, Annual Meeting, Asilomar, California, 2008.

Csintalan, Z., Juhász, A., Benko, Z., Raschi, A. & Tuba, Z. (2005). Photosynthetic responses of forest-floor moss species to elevated CO2 level by a natural CO2 vent. Cereal Research Communications 33: 177–80.Google Scholar

Csintalan, Z., Takács, Z., Tuba, Z., et al. (1997). Desiccation tolerant grassland cryptogams under elevated CO2: preliminary findings. Abstracta Botanica 21: 309–15.Google Scholar

Csintalan, Z., Tuba, Z. & Laitat, E. (1995). Slow chlorophyll fluorescence, net CO2 assimilation and carbohydrate responses in the forest moss Polytrichum formosum to elevated CO2 concentrations. In Photosynthesis: From Light to Biosphere, ed. Mathis, P., vol. 5, pp. 925–8. New York, NY: Springer.CrossRef

DeLucia, E. H., Sasek, T. & Strain, B. (1985). Photosynthetic inhibition after long-term exposure to elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis Research 7: 175–84.Google Scholar

Dilks, T. J. K. (1976). Measurement of the carbon dioxide compensation point and the rate of loss of 14CO2 in the light and dark in some bryophytes. Journal of Experimental Botany 27: 98–104.Google Scholar

Dunn, P. K. (2007). The tweedie package for R: Tweedie exponential family models. R package version 1.5.1, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

Grime, J. P., Rincon, E. R. & Wickerson, B. E. (1990). Bryophytes and plant strategy theory. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 104: 175–86.Google Scholar

Heijmans, M., Berendse, F., Arp, W. J.et al. (2001). Effects of elevated carbon dioxide and increased nitrogen deposition on bog vegetation in the Netherlands. Journal of Ecology 89: 268–79.Google Scholar

Hothorn, T., Bretz, F. & Westfall, P. (2008). Simultaneous inference in general parametric models. Biometrical Journal 50: 346–63.Google Scholar

Jablonski, L. M., Wang, X. & Curtis, P. S. (2002). Plant reproduction under elevated CO2 conditions: a meta-analysis of reports on 79 crop and wild species. New Phytologist 156: 9–26.Google Scholar

Jasoni, R. L., Smith, S. D. & Arnone, J. A. (2005). Net ecosystem CO2 exchange in Mojave Desert shrublands during the eighth year of exposure to elevated CO2. Global Change Biology 11: 749–56.Google Scholar

Jauhiainen, J., Silvola, J. & Vasander, H. (1998). The effects of increased nitrogen deposition and CO2 on Sphagnum angustifolium and S. warnstorfii. Annales Botanici Fennici 35: 247–56.Google Scholar

Jordan, D. N., Zitzer, S. F., Hendrey, G. R., et al. (1999). Biotic, abiotic and performance aspects of the Nevada Desert Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) Facility. Global Change Biology 5: 659–68.Google Scholar

Jørgensen, B. (1987). Exponential dispersion models. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series B (Methodological) 49: 127–62.Google Scholar

LaDeau, S. & Clark, J. S. (2001). Rising CO2 levels and the fecundity of forest trees. Science 292: 95–8.Google Scholar

Liebig, J. (1840). Die organische Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Agricultur und Physiologie. Braunschweig, Germany: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn Publ. Co.

Mitchell, E. A. D., Buttler, A., Grosvernier, P., Rydin, H. & Siegenthaler, A. (2002). Contrasted effects of increased N and CO2 supply on two keystone species in peatland restoration and implications for global change. Journal of Ecology 90: 529–33.Google Scholar

Newton, A. E. & Mishler, B. D. (1994). The evolutionary significance of asexual reproduction in mosses. Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory 76: 127–45.Google Scholar

Nowak, R. S., Ellsworth, D. S. & Smith, S. D. (2004). Functional responses of plants to elevated atmospheric CO2 – do photosynthetic and productivity data from FACE experiments support early predictions? New Phytologist 162: 253–80.Google Scholar

Oechel, W. C., Cowles, S., Grulke, N., et al. (1994). Transient nature of CO2 fertilization in Arctic tundra. Nature 371: 500–3.Google Scholar

Oliver, M. J., Velten, J. & Mishler, B. D. (2005). Desiccation tolerance in bryophytes: a reflection of the primitive strategy for plant survival in dehydrating habitats? Integrative and Comparative Biology 45: 788–99.Google Scholar

Ötvös, E. & Tuba, Z. (2005). Ecophysiology of mosses under elevated air CO2 concentration: overview. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants 11: 65–70.Google Scholar

Poorter, H. (1993). Interspecific variation in the growth response of plants to an elevated ambient CO2 concentration. Vegetatio 104–105: 77–97.Google Scholar

Proctor, M. C. F. (1982). Physiological ecology: water relations, light and temperature responses, carbon balance. In Bryophyte Ecology, ed. Smith, A. J. E., pp. 333–81. New York, NY: Chapman and Hall.CrossRef

,R Development Core Team. (2008). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org/

Silvola, J. (1985). CO2 dependence of photosynthesis in certain forest and peat mosses and simulated photosynthesis at various actual and hypothetical CO2 concentrations. Lindbergia 11: 86–93.Google Scholar

Silvola, J. (1990). Combined effects of varying water content and CO2 concentration on photosynthesis in Spagnum fuscum. Holarctic Ecology 13: 224–8.Google Scholar

Smith, S. D., Huxman, T. E., Zitzer, S. F.et al. (2000). Elevated CO2 increases productivity and invasive species success in an arid ecosystem. Nature 408: 79–82.Google Scholar

Sonesson, M., Callaghan, T. V. & Carlsson, B. (1996). Effects of enhanced ultraviolet radiation and carbon dioxide concentration on the moss Hylocomium splendens. Global Change Biology 2: 67–73.Google Scholar

Stark, L. R., Mishler, B. D. & McLetchie, D. N. (1998). Sex expression and growth rates in natural populations of the desert soil crustal moss Syntrichia caninervis. Journal of Arid Environments 40: 401–16.Google Scholar

Stark, L. R., Nichols, L. II, McLetchie, D. N., Smith, S. D. & Zundel, C. (2004). Age and sex-specific rates of leaf regeneration in the Mojave Desert moss Syntrichia caninervis. American Journal of Botany 91: 1–9.Google Scholar

Sveinbjörnsson, B. & Oechel, W. C. (1992). Controls on growth and productivity of bryophytes: environmental limitations under current and anticipated conditions. In Bryophytes and Lichens in a Changing Environment, ed. Bates, J. W. & Farmer, A. M., pp. 77–102. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Takács, Z., Ötvös, E., Lichtenthaler, H. K. & Tuba, Z. (2004). Chlorophyll fluorescence and CO2 exchange of the heavy metal-treated moss, Tortula ruralis under elevated CO2 concentration. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants 10: 291–6.Google Scholar

Therneau, T. & Lumley, T. (2008). survival: Survival analysis, including penalised likelihood. R package version 2.34–1.

Thompson, D. B., Walker, L. R., Landau, F. H. & Stark, L. R. (2005). The influence of elevation, shrub species, and biological soil crust on fertile islands in the Mojave Desert, USA. Journal of Arid Environments 61: 609–29.Google Scholar

Tuba, Z., Csintalan, Z., Szente, K., Nagy, Z. & Grace, J. (1998). Carbon gains by desiccation-tolerant plants at elevated CO2. Functional Ecology 12: 39–44.Google Scholar

Tuba, Z., Proctor, M. C. F. & Takács, Z. (1999). Desiccation-tolerant plants under elevated air CO2: A review. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung – Section C, Journal of Biosciences 54: 788–96.Google Scholar

Heijden, E., Jauhiainen, J., Silvola, J., Vasander, H. & Kuiper, P. J. C. (2000a). Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration and increased nitrogen deposition on growth and chemical composition of ombrotrophic Sphagnum balticum and oligo-mesotrophic Sphagnum papillosum. Journal of Bryology 22: 175–82.Google Scholar

Heijden, E., Verbeek, S. K. & Kuiper, P. J. C. (2000b). Elevated atmospheric CO2 and increased nitrogen deposition: effects on C and N metabolism and growth of the peat moss Sphagnum recurvum P. Beauv. var. mucronatum (Russ.) Warnst. Global Change Biology 6: 201–12.Google Scholar

Ploeg, R. R., Bohm, W. & Kirkham, M. B. (1999). On the origin of the theory of mineral nutrition of plants and the law of the minimum. Soil Science Society of America Journal 63: 1055–62.Google Scholar

Venables, W. N. & Ripley, B. D. (2002). Modern Applied Statistics with S. New York, NY: Springer.CrossRef

Wilson, J. A. & Coxson, D. S. (1999). Carbon flux in a subalpine spruce–fir forest: Pulse release from Hylocomium splendens feather-moss mats. Canadian Journal of Botany 77: 564–9.Google Scholar

Wong, S. C. (1979). Elevated atmospheric partial pressure of CO2 and plant growth. Oecologia 44: 68–74.Google Scholar

Zaady, E., Kuhn, U., Wilske, B., Sandoval-Soto, L. & Kesselmeier, J. (2000). Patterns of CO2 exchange in biological soil crusts of successional age. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 32: 959–66.Google Scholar

Zander, R. H. (1993). Genera of the Pottiaceae: mosses of harsh environments. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 32: 1–378.Google Scholar

Zeileis, A., Kleiber, C. & Jackman, S. (2008). Regression models for count data in R. Journal of Statistical Software 27: 1–25.Google Scholar

Zhang, Y. & Guo, L. (2007). Arbuscular mycorrhizal structure and fungi associated with mosses. Mycorrhiza 17: 319–25.Google Scholar