Bryophyte Ecology and Climate Change

Bryophytes, especially mosses, represent a largely untapped resource for monitoring and indicating effects of climate change on the living environment. They are tied very closely to the external environment and have been likened to ‘canaries in the coal mine’. Bryophyte Ecology and Climate Change is the first book to bring together a diverse array of research in bryophyte ecology, including physiology, desiccation tolerance, photosynthesis, temperature and UV responses, under the umbrella of climate change. It covers a great variety of ecosystems in which bryophytes are important, including aquatic, desert, tropical, boreal, alpine, Antarctic, and Sphagnum-dominated wetlands, and considers the effects of climate change on the distribution of common and rare species as well as the computer modeling of future changes. This book should be of particular value to individuals, libraries, and research institutions interested in global climate change.

Author Biography

Zoltán Tuba (1951–2009) was an internationally-known ecophysiologist based at Szent Istvan University, Gödöllö, Hungary. He established the first experimental Hungarian research station and field laboratory at Gödöllö for research on global climate change. His research covered a broad range of topics and he was one of the first to work on desiccation tolerance of bryophytes under elevated CO2. Nancy Slack teaches bryophyte ecology at the Humboldt Field Research Institute (ME) and is Professor of Biology Emerita at the Sage Colleges, Troy, NY. She has conducted research in bryology and plant ecology in the US, Canada and Sweden, especially on peatland and alpine ecosystems. She was recently President of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society (ABLS). Lloyd Stark is a plant reproductive ecologist interested in explanations of unbalanced sex ratios in bryophytes, how mosses respond to abiotic stress and climate change, and the factors limiting sexual reproduction in mosses. Lloyd is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he has recently been honored as the College of Sciences Teacher of the Year for his courses in ecology and general biology.