Abstract
The species richness of forest floor bryophytes in montane forests was examined on Mt. Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, in relation to both the overstory tree species and the coverage of leaf-litter and rocks on the forest floor. The composition and species richness of bryophytes were not affected by the composition of overstory trees nor the height and coverage of tree layer. The number of bryophyte species increased with a decrease of leaf-litter coverage, but were correlated with the rock coverage more strongly than the leaf-litter coverage. The number of growth forms of bryophytes was larger and the stratification of the bryophyte community was more complicated on big rocks than small ones. The results suggest that rocks, especially large-sized rocks, provide a favorable habitat for bryophytes on the forest floor of temperate forests.
