Relationship between species composition of epiphytic bryophytes and woody species composition of forests on Mt. Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, central Japan

Abstract

Species composition of bryophyte epiphytes on temperate forest phorophytes was studied on Mt. Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, focusing on differences in the number of woody species. There was no clear correlation between the total number of woody species and the number of epiphytic bryophyte species in the stands. The number of epiphytic bryophyte species was associated with ratio of woody plant with epiphytic bryophyte in total woody plant species. A factor influencing the number of epiphytic bryophyte species was the number of woody species bearing epiphytic bryophytes. Two groups of epiphytic bryophytes were recognized, one growing on trees, sub-trees and shrubs and another only on shrubs.