A contribution to the knowledge of bryophytes in polar areas subjected to rapid deglaciation: A case study from southeastern Spitsbergen

Abstract

The paper provides a list of 54 species of bryophytes (48 mosses and six liverworts) collected from Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Arctic Svalbard archipelago (Norwegian Arctic), in 2016. They were collected mainly from its southeastern coast (Sørkapp Land and Torell Land), which has been rapidly abandoned by glaciers in the last few decades and is heavily under-investigated bryologically. The most interesting and phytogeographically important findings are the mosses Bryum salinum, Campylium longicuspis, Coscinodon cribrosus, Orthogrimmia sessitana, Pogonatum dentatum, Polytrichum juniperinum, Sanionia georgicouncinata, Schistidium frigidum, and S. pulchrum, and the liverwort Cephalozia bicuspidata. For each species, a short taxonomic and phytogeographical comment is provided, and the distribution of 12 rare or otherwise phytogeographically interesting species in Svalbard is shown on maps.