Abstract
Forest fragmentation has serious negative impact on epiphytic bryophytes on trees. However, few attempts have been made at their conservation because of the difficulties in identifying them. To advance their conservation, we identified what kinds of fragmented forests are effective for epiphytic bryophyte conservation. To reveal these forests, we focused on the effects of several environmental factors in fragmented forests on epiphytic bryophyte species richness, bryophyte life-forms, and the dispersal type. The study sites were 27 fragmented forests in Kyoto. Using detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), we showed that management type was significantly and strongly correlated with the DCA1 axis, whereas patch size only with the DCA2 axis. The DCA1 axis was also significantly and strongly associated with the relative species richness of three life-forms and that of asexually dispersed species, whereas the DCA2 axis with the species richness, the life-form richness, and the relative species richness of one life-forms. Considering the ecological traits of the life-forms and the dispersal type, we revealed that these environmental factors affect the bryophyte species composition through the changes or heterogeneity of moisture availability and light intensity in fragmented forests.
