The MOVECLIM – AZORES project: Bryophytes from Pico Island (2012)

The inventory was conducted during September 2012 under the responsibility of Rosalina Gabriel and Claudine Ah-Peng, with the participation of Márcia Catarina Mendes Coelho, Silvia Calvo Aranda, Débora S. G. Henriques and Fernando Pereira. Paulo A.V. Borges generally helped in the field.
Bryophytes were sampled along the elevation gradient using a modified BRYOLAT standardised method in order to include taxonomic information of phorophytes and environmental data (Ah-Peng et al., 2012; Gabriel et al., 2014; Borges et al., 2018).
At each site, two plots of 10 m x 10 m were set 10-15 m apart. Each plot was thus divided into 25 quadrats (2 m x 2 m), from which three were randomly selected to further inspection. Each quadrat was carefully examined to collect three microplots of 50 cm2 (10 cm x 5 cm) for each of the substrates that were colonized by bryophytes: rock, soil, humus, organic matter, tree bark and leaves/fronds. The three microplots from bark were sampled in stratified way along the height of the tree, at the lowest (1-50 cm), medium (51-100 cm) and higher (101-200 cm) spots.
Environmental data for each microplot was obtained in ordinal scales for Light, Evaporation, Humidity and Rugosity, using the scales proposed by Gabriel & Bates (2005).

This study covers 12 sites, each including two plots of 100 m2 each, placed along an elevation gradient, with a 200 m elevation step, from 10 m to 2200 m a.s.l. in Pico Island (Azores, Portugal). The transect starts in Manhenha, at 10 m a.s.l., and ends at the large Caldeira of Pico Mountain, at 2200 m. a.s.l., roughly following an East-West direction.

FIELD: Plots were placed within homogeneous areas of the most representative native vegetation found at each sampled elevation. A visit made by PAVB and RG in July 2012 prospected the best sampling sites. Sampling was made by experienced bryologists, who ensured the samples were properly collected, while avoiding the excessive removal of material.

STORAGE: After the collection of the microplots for paper bags, these were left open and separated in a darkened room until complete dehydration. After identification, every sample was transferred to herbarium envelopes properly identified. All these envelopes were stored on the Herbarium of the University of the Azores (AZU), Section Bryophytes, under the name “MOVECLIM – AZORES project: Bryophytes from Pico Island (2012)”.

TAXONOMY: All efforts were made to achieve an accurate identification of the specimens: (i) the most updated keys and floras were used by / under the supervision of experienced bryologists; (ii) challenging samples were sent to specialists for confirmation / identification; (iii) identification of extremely small or etiolated specimens was not pursued to the species level.
Mosses were identified using the floras of Smith (2004) and Casas et al. (2006), whereas liverworts were identified using the floras written by Paton (1999) and Casas et al. (2009) and the taxonomic key of Schumacker and Váňa (2005). Visual guides (e.g. Atherton et al. 2010; Lüth, 2019) were also consulted, as well as the BBS Field Guide online pages, the Bildatlas der Moose Deutschlands for morphological and ecological data. Nomenclature follows Gabriel et al. (2010) and adaptations available on the Azorean Biodiversity Portal (2023).
Species identification was performed by Márcia Catarina Mendes Coelho, under the supervision of Rosalina Gabriel, and by Helena Hespanhol. In 2023, all the Frullania specimens were reviewed by Leila Nunes Morgado under the supervision of Rosalina Gabriel. The identification of some challenging specimens was performed by Manuela Sim-Sim and Cecília Sérgio.

REPRESENTATIVENESS OF THE PICO BRYOFLORA: Species accumulation curves were generated based on a presence–absence microplot-scale matrix using Chao 2 estimator. Sampling completeness was high both for liverworts (87.5%) and mosses (94.5%) (Coelho et al., 2021).