Photographic analysis of field-monitored fern gametophyte development and response to environmental stress.

Premise: Ferns differ from seed plants in possessing a life cycle that includes a small, free-living, seemingly vulnerable gametophyte stage in which sexual reproduction occurs. Most research on the response of fern gametophytes to environmental stress has been conducted on gametophytes grown in culture or harvested from natural habitats and subsequently manipulated and tested in laboratory experiments. We present a fixed-distance photographic methodology for monitoring longevity of gametophytes and their response to environmental stress in natural, undisturbed habitats over their life spans.

Bryophyte diaspore bank: a genetic memory? Genetic structure and genetic diversity of surface populations and diaspore bank in the liverwort Mannia fragrans (Aytoniaceae).

Propagule banks are assumed to be able to store considerable genetic variability. Bryophyte populations are expected to rely more heavily on stored propagules than those of seed plants due to the vulnerability of the haploid gametophyte. This reliance has important implications for the genetic structure and evolutionary potential of surface populations.

Multilocus dataset reveals demographic histories of two peat mosses in Europe.

Background: Revealing the past and present demographic history of populations is of high importance to evaluate the conservation status of species. Demographic data can be obtained by direct monitoring or by analysing data of historical and recent collections. Although these methods provide the most detailed information they are very time consuming.

Large clones on cliff faces: expanding by rhizomes through crevices.

Background And Aims: Large clones of rhizomatous plants are found in many habitats, but little is known about whether such clones also occur on cliff faces where environmental conditions are extremely harsh and heterogeneous.

Methods: Using molecular (intersimple sequence repeat, ISSR) markers, the genotypic composition of a cliff-face population of Oxyria sinensis in Sichuan, China, was investigated.

Key Results: The 98 O.

Contrasting phylogeographic patterns in Sphagnum fimbriatum and Sphagnum squarrosum (Bryophyta, Sphagnopsida) in Europe.

The chloroplast phylogeography of two peat mosses (Sphagnum fimbriatum and Sphagnum squarrosum) with similar distributions but different life history characteristics was investigated in Europe. Our main aim was to test whether similar distributions reflect similar phylogeographic and phylodemographic processes. Accessions covering the European distributions of the species were collected and approx.