Mosses - Overlooked Diversity
By Michael Sauer
To get a good access to the mosses, you have to take a closer look. Because their beauty and variety is often revealed only on closer inspection, in some species even under the microscope or the microscope. Since mosses do not seem to have any immediate benefit for us humans, mosses can not be eaten, unfortunately, in most cases they are also missing memorable German names for them, which makes access to them even more difficult.
Moose in the natural household
Although mosses are small, they often occur in large quantities and are then an important part of the ecosystem. In certain vegetation zones, they constitute a considerable part of the plant mass, e.g. in the tundra up to 90%. Even in the tropical mountain rainforests, they shape the stock image.
In our latitudes, mosses are found mainly in locations that are sparsely populated by flowering plants and ferns and where consequently they have little competition:
in moors
in springs and streams
on rocks (rocks, blocks, walls)
on rotten wood
on living trees and shrubs
on the ground of coniferous forests
Moose cushions and lawns are miniature biotopes that provide habitats for a variety of small and micro-organisms. Their ability to store water regulates the natural circulation of water. Thus, flooding can be reduced and the small-scale climate can be improved. At open places, moss vegetation reduces soil erosion.
The emergence of flowering plants can be favoured by moss ceilings, but also prevented. Moospolster, in which dead plant parts and soil accumulate, may be a prerequisite for a certain fungal flora.
In some cases, mosses are also involved in rock formation. The best-known example is the formation of calcareous sands (lard), to which certain swamp mosses such as the common moss (Cratoneuron commutatum) and the broom moss (Eucladium verticillatum) contribute to a great extent by precipitating lime in carbonate-rich spring water by absorbing carbon dioxide.
Moose and man
From a very early age man knew how to use the mosses. Archaeological findings show that mosses were used as padding material and for stuffing joints in houses - or as a substitute for toilet paper. While in the western world, mosses today have a very low status, Japan appreciates its aesthetic value. Certain moss species have been used here for a long time and to a great extent horticultural (for example in monastery gardens). As a decorative material, mosses are still noticed by us, be it in the design of Christmas crib landscapes or to padding Easter eggs. Because of their absorbency, mosses are even used commercially in the manufacture of footwear insoles.
The fact that people are hardly interested in mosses and therefore there are almost no popular names for them, comes, among other things, that they are irrelevant to the human diet. On average, they contain only about one third as much proteins as flowering plants and less than half of fats, in addition, they contain large amounts of difficult to digest substances. Therefore, mosses are always eaten by vertebrates only in exceptional cases or only if no better food is available.
Pale mosses (genus Sphagnum) have been a peat producer since ancient times of great economic importance. Peat is an important fuel in some areas, and it plays a role in horticulture or bathing (mud baths). Due to their high absorbency and antibiotic properties, bleaching mosses were once used as dressing material - most recently also during World War II. In addition, many biologically active substances have been found in mosses, e.g. Odorants, antimicrobial or cytotoxic substances, plant growth regulators and agents for combating tumors.
Moose also play an important role as pointer organisms (bioindicators). From the occurrence of certain species can be, for example, close to the air or water quality at the place of growth. Some mosses indicate the presence of mineral deposits. For example, the copper moss Mielichhoferia mielichhoferiana is an indicator of iron- or copper-bearing rock.
Morphology and systematics
Worldwide, one assumes about 15,000 moss species. Of these, about 1,050 species occur in Germany.
The mosses can be divided into three main groups: hornwort (Anthocerotophyta), liverworts (Marchantiophyta) and mosses (Bryophyta). These are separate departments in the plant kingdom.
Hornworts
The hornworts are the smallest moss group with around 100 to 150 species worldwide. They are always bearing-shaped (thallos), i. not divided into stems, leaves and roots, the spore capsules horn-shaped. While in most other mosses the spore plant (sporophyte) is significantly smaller than the sex plant and also has a shorter lifespan, it reaches almost the same size in the horn mosses. The spore capsules are preserved until the moss plant dies. The capsule bounces double-lobed at the tip and releases the mature spores as it continues to grow from the base.
Already with the naked eye one can recognize small dark-green lumps in the camp of the Hornmoose. These are blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) that sit in specially formed thallus cavities. The blue-green algae are able to mineralize atmospheric nitrogen and thus make it available as a nutrient for the plant. In return, the hornmoo provides protection against excessive dehydration. Through this symbiosis, the hornworts can thrive in nutrient-poor locations. When the hornworts die, they release nutrients, increasing soil fertility. This has been used in the past for time, e.g. in the three-field economy always left a portion of the fields fallow, whereby hornwort could develop in large quantities. Even today they can still be found on fallowers in the autumn, even though they have become rare due to the intensification of agriculture.
Liverworts
Liver mosses can be divided into two groups with very different growth forms: the thallous liverworts and the leafy liverworts.
To thallosen liver mosses forming a band-shaped storage (Thallus) belongs, for example, Common Fountain Livermoss (Marchantia polymorpha).
However, most liverworts have a leafy stalk. The leaves are always arranged in two rows. Often there is another row of leaves on the underside of the trunk, the belly leaves. The leaves of the liverworts are either rounded or have two or more spikes. In contrast to the mosses they have, with a few exceptions, no midrib.
In the cells of the liverworts oil bodies are contained, which consist of small oil droplets. The different oils serve as storage substances and to ward off parasites, especially fungi; When rubbing the plants, therefore, sometimes develops an aromatic smell.
The sporophyte of liverworts is very short-lived. It usually consists of a more or less long, white to almost transparent stem and the spore capsule. The capsule is round or elliptical and opens at maturity with four flaps. Inside, in addition to the spores, so-called spinners (elaters), which move through a cohesion mechanism and spread the spores after opening the capsule.
The name "Lebermoos" goes back to the late Middle Ages spread signatures. At that time, it was assumed that it was possible to read from certain characteristics against what suffering a herb had grown. For example, the appearance of conical moss (Conocephalum), a lager moss, was reminiscent of the human liver.
The Laubmoose represent with more than 10,000 species worldwide the largest group of Moose.
All mosses are divided into stems and leaves. The leaves have a tip that may be more or less fine. In some cases it is also rounded. However, there are no multi-pointed leaves as in liverworts. Usually a simple midrib is formed, which serves to stabilize the leaf.
Even with the mosses, two growth forms can be distinguished:
The summit-shaped (akrokarp) mosses usually grow upright, the stems are not forked or just forked. The spore capsules (also called "fruits") form, as the name implies, at the top of the moss stems. The upright growth produces the typical moss cushions.
In the lateral-leaved (pleurokarp) mosses, the plants are branched more or less regularly. Here sporophytes are formed in axils of branchings, thus these mosses can make several capsules a year. The lateral leaved Moss grows in shallow, often extensive lawns.
The spore plant of the Livermoss lives much longer than that of the Livermoss. It is divided into three parts: the capsule stem (Seta), the capsule with the spores and the hood (Kalyptra). The hood is a formation of the sex plant; under their protection the young spore plant grows up.