Comparative study of the bryophyte epiphytic vegetation in Quercus pyrenaica and Quercus robur woodlands from Northern Portugal

Abstract

In the last few decades the remaining woodlands in the northern region of the Portuguese territory have been replaced by large extensions of artificial plantations. Never-theless, some of these woodlands are still represented and included in the Natura 2000 Net-work Sites. Epiphytic bryophytes were studied on six sites selected according to its climacic vegetation: pure woodlands of Quercus robur, pure woodlands of Q. pyrenaica and mixed woodlands of Q. robur and Q. pyrenaica. Each trunk was divided into a basal, a middle and a top zone. Comparison of species composition for the three major biotypes is based on the use of the Index of Ecological Significance (Lara & Mazimpaka, 1998). Twenty-nine bryo-phytes (22 mosses and 7 liverworts) were registered but very few species show host speci-ficity. Results helped to clarify some differences between the floristic composition of epi-phytic communities in Portuguese temperate and mediterranean woodlands.