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

The MOVECLIM - AZORES project aimed to improve the knowledge of the bryophyte flora of the archipelago of Azores (Portugal) in a systematic way. Pico Island was the first island to be surveyed since it includes some of the best preserved natural areas of the Azores and granted the largest elevational transect, from 10 m to 2200 m a.s.l., granting the opportunity to survey 12 natural vegetation sites. The collections were made during the first week of September 2012, using BRYOLAT Protocol, adapted to the Azores' conditions and knowledge of vascular species. This paper lists the taxonomic records and provides information on each species’ ecology and substrate.

The Azores archipelago, located in the North Atlantic Ocean, is divided into three groups of islands, the Eastern group (Santa Maria and São Miguel Islands), the Central group (Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial Islands), and the Western group (Flores and Corvo Islands. The climate is temperate oceanic, with regular and abundant rainfall, high levels of relative humidity, and persistent western winds, mainly during the winter and autumn seasons. Pico Island, the third largest (area: 445 km2) and the highest point of Portugal (maximum elevation: Piquinho, at 2,350 m a.s.l.), lying roughly at 38°28′12′′N | 28°23′42′′W. The island is known for some very important pristine areas at middle-high and high elevations, most of which are included in the Pico Natural Park. Notwithstanding, vast areas, especially from 200 m to 400 m a.s.l., are heavily altered due to urbanization and agriculture. Vegetation varied along the elevation transect, including all the eight zonal vegetation types found in the Azores (Elias et al., 2016): Erica-Morella coastal woodlands (10 m a.s.l.), Picconia-Morella lowland forests (200 m a.s.l.), Laurus submontane forests (400-600 m a.s.l.), Juniperus-Ilex montane forests (800 m a.s.l.), Juniperus montane woodlands (1000 m a.s.l.), Calluna-Juniperus altimontane scrublands (1200-1400 m a.s.l.), Calluna-Erica subalpine scrubland (1600-1800 m a.s.l.) and Calluna alpine scrubland (2000-2200 m a.s.l.).

The field study followed the BRYOLAT methodology (Ah-Peng et al., 2012), but incorporated some modifications according to the conditions and knowledge of the Azores flora (Gabriel et al., 2014; Borges et al., 2018). The sampling involved 12 sites, located at 200 m elevation intervals, ranging from 10 meters to 2200 meters. At each site, two plots of 10 m by 10 m were placed within a homogeneous ecosystem, 10 to 15 m apart from each other. Three quadrats measuring 2 meters by 2 meters were randomly surveyed from each plot. Three replicates (microplots) measuring 5 centimeters by 10 centimeters each, were collected from six different substrates: rock, soil, humus, organic matter, bark, and leaves/fronds, whenever available. Back in the laboratory, taxa were identified to the species/subspecies level, whenever possible, and the cover-abundance and sociability of each specimen bryophyte species from each microplot.

This study was financed by ERANET BIOME MOVECLIM – ‘Montane vegetation as listening posts for climate change’ of the regional government of the Azores, grant number M2.1.2/F/04/2011/NET. M.C.M.C. was funded by the FUNDO REGIONAL PARA A CIÊNCIA E TECNOLOGIA (FRCT) of the regional government of the Azores, grant number M3.1.2/F/007/2012. R.G. is currently funded by FCT-UIDB/00329/2020-2024 (Thematic Line 1–integrated ecological assessment of environmental change on biodiversity) and Azores DRCT Pluriannual Funding (M1.1.A/FUNC.UI&D/010/2021-2024).