The bryophytes are a plant group that is smaller than and not as well known as the vascular plants. They are less used and are almost completely neglected in ethnobotanical studies. Traditional ...nativity scenes depicting the birth of Christ are commonly decorated with both vascular plants and bryophytes. The aim of this study was to document the diversity of decorative bryophytes sold during the Advent season at farmers' markets in Croatia (Southeastern Europe, Balkan Peninsula).
Twenty-eight farmers' markets in the two largest Croatian cities (Zagreb in the continental part and Split in the Mediterranean part) were studied in the search for local vendors selling bryophytes during the pre-Christmas season. The bryophytes collected were identified and analysed with respect to families, growth type, life forms and threat status.
Among 275 collected specimens, 43 moss and four liverwort species were identified. The mean number of species per vendor was 3.5. The most frequent species were Hypnum cupressiforme, Homalothecium sericeum and Ctenidium molluscum. Mats, wefts and tufts were the most common life-forms, while pleurocarpous prevailed over acrocarpous mosses, as they are usually pinnately branched and form large carpets, suitable for decorations. The overall selection of bryophytes and the decorations made of them were more diverse and abundant in inland Croatia, where 49 vendors at 15 farmers' markets sold goods containing 43 species. In Mediterranean Croatia, at six farmers' markets only 29 vendors sold goods, which contained 18 species. A considerable number of species that are less attractive to harvesters were collected non-intentionally, entangled in carpets of other, more frequent species. Among them, Rhodobryum ontariense and Loeskeobryum brevirostre are rare and insufficiently recorded in Croatia so far.
The present study provided a first perspective on the use of bryophytes in traditional nativity scenes in Croatia and Southeastern Europe, contributing to scarce ethnobotanical documentation of the decorative use of bryophytes in Christmas festivities in Europe and globally.
A comprehensive survey of Croatian watercourses covering the whole of the national territory and investigating inherent watercourse heterogeneity was conducted to explore the ecological responses of ...the most frequent freshwater bryophytes with respect to water chemistry variables and land use within the catchment area. Direct multivariate ordination (CCA) of vegetation data paired with 18 environmental variables revealed that freshwater bryophytes and their assemblages were segregated along the gradients of water chemistry and the proportion of natural and urban area within the catchment. Generalized additive models (GAM) were employed to explore the ecological responses of individual species. The results showed that most of the investigated species preferred natural, clean, well-oxygenated watercourses, with low nutrient and organic matter content, as well as with low electrical conductivity. Species such as Palustriella falcata, Eucladium vertcillatum, Dichodontium flavescens and Jungermannia atrovirens had narrow ecological niches and were restricted to pristine watercourses, while the most frequent and widely distributed species, such as Fontinalis antipyretica, Rhynchostegium riparioides, Cratoneuron filicinum, Fissidens crassipes, Cinclidotus fontinaloides and C. riparius, had a wide ecological tolerance. Riccia fluitans and Leptodyctium riparium had wide ecological ranges, but with optima in hypereutrophic waters with high nutrient and organic content, as well as high electrical conductivity. Furthermore, these two species were frequently associated with a high share of intensive agriculture and a low share of natural land within the catchment.
An extensive macrophyte field survey of running and standing waters was conducted from 2016 to 2021 at 786 sampling sites across Croatia as a part of the implementation of the Water Framework ...Directive. This survey is the first to present a comprehensive floristic catalogue of the freshwater bryoflora, along with an analysis of the distribution and diversity patterns on a national level. In all, 83 bryophyte species (68 mosses and 15 liverworts) were recorded in the 228 sites, with average species richness of 4.17 species per site. The most frequent species were
,
,
and
. The majority of the species encountered were rarely found, with over 70% of species recorded on less than 10 sampling sites and the majority of the species not being truly aquatic, rather being classified as facultative aquatics. The Dinaric Ecoregion, characterised by clean, cold, fast-flowing karstic rivers, especially in the Continental Subecoregion, supported higher freshwater bryophyte diversity than the lowland Pannonian Ecoregion, with mostly slow, eutrophic lowland watercourses with unstable sandy and gravelly alluvial sediments. Chorological comparison of Croatian eco- and subecoregions revealed the expected dominance of circumpolar and European elements, i.e. temperate chorotypes, as well as some biogeographical differences. The most frequent life forms were aquatic trailings and turfs. Amongst the recorded species, perennials and colonists were the most represented life strategies. The analysis of both the life-form and life-strategy spectra showed some differences amongst the Croatian regions, supporting the fact that the Dinaric Ecoregion provides more truly aquatic habitats and microhabitats suitable for the freshwater bryophytes, while in the Pannonian Ecoregion freshwater bryophytes dominantly inhabit the periodically submerged riparian zones, for example shaded lowland forest streams and rivulets or gently sloping margins of rivers and lakes.
A comprehensive field survey of 527 sites on 293 watercourses across Croatia revealed 76 sites (14.42%) in which bryophytes were the dominant part of the macrophyte vegetation. Using classification ...and ordination analyses, we obtained five community types segregated across the gradients of several climatic, physiographic and water chemistry parameters. The Didymodon tophaceus–Apopellia endiviifolia and the Berula erecta-Cratoneuron filicinum communities were mostly confined to the clean and basic karstic rivers of the Dinaric Ecoregion under the influence of the Mediterranean climate, with the Didymodon tophaceus–Apopellia endiviifolia community being a tufa-forming community associated with the seasonally dry watercourses of small catchment areas and cascades along the larger karstic rivers, while the Berula erecta–Cratoneuton filicinum community was mostly associated with rivers with larger catchment areas and permanent flow. On the other hand, the Oxyrrhynchium hians–Chiloscyphus pallescens community and the Fissidens pusillus–Veronica beccabunga community were associated with eutrophic water restricted to small rivers of the Pannonian Ecoregion under the influence of the temperate climate and flowing over silicate bedrock. The most represented and widespread in Croatia was the Cinclidotus community, displaying the widest ecological range in the study. It was mostly associated with the relatively clean karstic rivers of large catchment areas belonging to the Dinaric Ecoregion, with the majority of the sites under the influence of a temperate climate with higher precipitation during the warm period of the year. The geographical patterns of the freshwater bryophyte communities showed that the relatively clean, fast and cold karstic rivers belonging to the Dinaric Ecoregion provide habitats that harbour a greater diversity of bryophyte communities than the watercourses of the Pannonian Ecoregion, where bryophyte-dominated communities are restricted to a small number of small lowland and semi-montane rivers and predominantly occupy periodically flooded microhabitats such as river margins.
Freshwater and brackish species of bryozoans belong to the Phylactolaemata and Gymnolaemata class. Twelve species of bryozoans were recorded and morphologically determined at eight locations in the ...Black Sea and the Adriatic basin in Croatia. Twelve species of Bryozoa have been listed in the taxonomic index for Croatia (Conopeum seurati, Lophopus crystallinus Paludicella articulata, Cristatella mucedo, Fredericella sultana, Hyalinella punctata, Plumatella casmiana, Plumatella emarginata, Plumatella fruticosa, Plumatella fungosa, Plumatella geimermassardi and Plumatella repens). For the purposes of gene identification of recorded species, molecular markers for nuclear 18S and 28S genes, ITS2 region and mitochondrial COI gene were amplified. Genetic identifications of morphologically determined bryozoan species were confirmed using highly similar sequences local alignment analysis. Proliferation of freshwater bryozoan species over long distances with the help of the vector animals was confirmed by defining haplotypes on the base of 18S, 28S and ITS2 sequences associated with the Black Sea-Mediterranean waterfowl flyway.
A small population of the circumholoarctic species
L. (Primulaceae) was discovered in the Mediterranean part of Croatia, on the bank of the River Zrmanja. This is the first record of
.
in SE Europe, ...and the third record in the Mediterranean, apart from in Spain and the Asian part of Turkey. It was found on the open riverbank within sub-halophytic vegetation, forming a small population of several dozen erect stems, most probably clonally propagated. The site is characterized by a periodic intrusion of seawater. We propose to classify this species as critically endangered (CR) on a national level due to the small population size and the fragile habitat, which requires active protection and conservation.
Eight new localities of the rare, strictly protected macrophyte
have been recorded during a comprehensive survey of water bodies in Croatia. One record is located in the Mediterranean Region, in ...Butoniga Reservoir, while the remaining records are from the Continental Region, the majority of them situated along the Kupa River.
occurred in slightly basic and alkaline environments and in a wide range of nutrient availability. In Continental localities, the species was present within
of the alliance
, while in Butoniga, it occurred within the vegetation of the alliance
. Prior to our research, the species was recorded in Croatia only twice, with the older record dating back to the 19
century and the second from recent years, but neither one was confirmed in later surveys. The low number of records of
in spite of a wide-ranging search through hundreds of localities, confirmed the rare status of this species, although the reasons for such limited distribution remain unclear, especially bearing in mind that suitable aquatic habitats are quite widespread in the country.
Groenlandia densa is globally a widely distributed species; it has been recorded in the majority of the countries of the Western Balkans. However, the knowledge on its extant distribution in this ...particular area is limited and even controversial. In order to address this issue by tracking changes in species distribution over time and elucidating its current status in this area, we carried out a comprehensive survey of available literature sources and herbarium data, and performed field surveys. In Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia the species is most probably regionally extinct, while in Albania, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia G. densa occurs with only sparse records. Therefore, the most recent overview confirms this species as exceptionally rare in the Western Balkans. In Northern Europe the populations are declining due to various factors such as changes in climate and hydrology, prolonged periods of drought and irregular flooding, inappropriate water management, urbanization, eutrophication, etc., and in the Western Balkans we have observed the same general trend. As a threatened species, G. densa urges for active conservation measures and thus our recommendation would be to reassess this species at the European level.
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