Author: Paulo Borges
Keywords: Bryophytes, Mosses, Liverworts, Elevation Gradient, Substrate, Occurrence, MOVECLIM-AZO, Pico Island, Azores,

The MOVECLIM – AZORES project: Bryophytes from Pico Island (2012)

Rosalina Gabriel^1, Leila Morgado^2, Márcia Cristina Coelho^3, Silvia Aranda^4, Débora Sofia Henriques^5, Fernando Pereira^6, Paulo A. V. Borges^7, Helena Hespanhol Hespanhol^8, Cecília Sérgio^9, Manuela Sim-Sim^10, Claudine Ah-Peng^11, Paulo A. V. Borges^1

1 Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c)/Azorean Biodiversity Group, CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of the Azores, Rua Capitão João d´Ávila, Pico da Urze, 9700-042, Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal; 2 IITAA – Instituto de Investigação e Tecnologias Agrárias e do Ambiente, Rua Capitão João D'Ávila. Pico da Urze, São Pedro, 9700-042, Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal; 3 Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c)/Azorean Biodiversity Group, Rua Capitão João D'Ávila. Pico da Urze, São Pedro, 9700-042, Angra do Heroísmo; 4 Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, , Spain; 5 Banco Genético Vegetal Autóctone, Empresa Municipal Cascais Ambiente, Estrada de Vale de Cavalos, Alcabideche, Cascais, Portugal; 6 Azorean Biodiversity Group, School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Rua Capitão João D'Ávila. Pico da Urze, São Pedro, 9700-042, Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal; 7 Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c)/Azorean Biodiversity Group, CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences University of the Azores, Rua Capitão João D'Ávila. Pico da Urze, São Pedro, 9700-042, Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal; 8 CIBIO - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, nº 7, 4485-661, Vairão; 9 Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c) / Natural History & Systematics (NHS) CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Edifício C2, 5º Piso, 1749-016, Campo Grande, Portugal; 10 Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c) / Natural History & Systematics (NHS) CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, , Portugal; 11 UMR PVBMT - Pôle de Protection des Plantes, Université de La Réunion 7 Chemin de l’IRAT, 97410, Saint-Pierre, France

Corresponding author(s): Rosalina Gabriel (rosalina.ma.gabriel@uac.pt)Leila Morgado (leila.morgado1@gmail.com)Márcia Cristina Coelho (marciacmcoelho@gmail.com)Silvia Aranda (silviac@mncn.csic.es)Débora Sofia Henriques (debhenriques@gmail.com)Fernando Pereira (fernando.ea.pereira@uac.pt)Paulo A. V. Borges (paulo.av.borges@uac.pt)Helena Hespanhol Hespanhol (helenahespanhol@gmail.com)Cecília Sérgio (csergio@fc.ul.pt)Manuela Sim-Sim (mmsim-sim@ciencias.ulisboa.pt)Claudine Ah-Peng (claudine.ahpeng@univ-reunion.fr)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Gabriel R, Morgado L, Coelho M C, Aranda S, Henriques D S, Pereira F, Borges P A V, Hespanhol H H, Sérgio C, Sim-Sim M, Ah-Peng C (2023): The MOVECLIM – AZORES project: Bryophytes from Pico Island (2012). v1.1. Universidade dos Açores. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=bryophytes_pico_2012&v=1.1

Abstract

In September 2012, Pico Island was surveyed along an elevational transept starting on Manhenha, at 10 m a.s.l., and ending on the Pico Mountain caldera, at 2200 m a.s.l. to obtain a systematic inventory of the bryophytes living in natural environments. A total of twelve sites were examined, separated by 200 m elevation steps. At each site, two 10 m x 10 m plots were established within 10-15 m from each other, and within each plot, three 2 m x 2 m quadrats were randomly selected and thoroughly sampled for bryophytes using microplots of 10 cm x 5 cm, collected to paper bags. Six substrates were explored within each quadrat: rock, soil, humus, organic matter, tree bark and leaves/fronds; three replicates were made for each substrate, whenever available and colonized by bryophytes, totalling a maximum of 18 microplots per quadrat, 54 microplots per plot, 108 microplots per site and 1296 microplots on the 12 sites of Pico Island. It was possible to collect two thirds of the maximum expected number of microplots (N=878; 67,75%), resulting in 4896 specimens, the great majority of which (n=4869) were identified to the species/subspecies level. Overall, it was possible to identify 70 moss’ and 71 liverwort’ species. The elevation levels both with a greater number of microplots and higher richness of species were those between 600-1000 m a.s.l., coinciding with the native forest plots. The study contributed to improve the knowledge of Azorean bryophyte diversity and distribution at both local and regional scales, including the recording of new taxa for Pico Island and the Azores.

Keywords: Bryophytes, Mosses, Liverworts, Elevation Gradient, Substrate, Occurrence, MOVECLIM-AZO, Pico Island, Azores, 

Project details

Project title: MOVECLIM – AZORES project: Bryophytes from Pico Island (2012)
Personnel: Rosalina Gabriel, Leila Morgado
Funding: This study was financed by ERANET BIOME MOVECLIM – ‘Montane vegetation as listening posts for climate change’ of the regional government of the Azores, grant number M2.1.2/F/04/2011/NET. M.C.M.C. was funded by the FUNDO REGIONAL PARA A CIÊNCIA E TECNOLOGIA (FRCT) of the regional government of the Azores, grant number M3.1.2/F/007/2012. R.G. is currently funded by FCT-UIDB/00329/2020-2024 (Thematic Line 1–integrated ecological assessment of environmental change on biodiversity) and Azores DRCT Pluriannual Funding (M1.1.A/FUNC.UI&D/010/2021-2024).
Study area descriptions/descriptor: The Azores archipelago, located in the North Atlantic Ocean, is divided into three groups of islands, the Eastern group (Santa Maria and São Miguel Islands), the Central group (Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial Islands), and the Western group (Flores and Corvo Islands. The climate is temperate oceanic, with regular and abundant rainfall, high levels of relative humidity, and persistent western winds, mainly during the winter and autumn seasons. 
Pico Island, the third largest (area: 445 km2) and the highest point of Portugal (maximum elevation: Piquinho, at 2,350 m a.s.l.), lying roughly at 38°28′12′′N | 28°23′42′′W. The island is known for some very important pristine areas at middle-high and high elevations, most of which are included in the Pico Natural Park. Notwithstanding, vast areas, especially from 200 m to 400 m a.s.l., are heavily altered due to urbanization and agriculture.
Vegetation varied along the elevation transect, including all the eight zonal vegetation types found in the Azores (Elias et al., 2016): Erica-Morella coastal woodlands (10 m a.s.l.), Picconia-Morella lowland forests (200 m a.s.l.), Laurus submontane forests (400-600 m a.s.l.), Juniperus-Ilex montane forests (800 m a.s.l.), Juniperus montane woodlands (1000 m a.s.l.), Calluna-Juniperus altimontane scrublands (1200-1400 m a.s.l.), Calluna-Erica subalpine scrubland (1600-1800 m a.s.l.) and Calluna alpine scrubland (2000-2200 m a.s.l.).
Design description: The field study followed the BRYOLAT methodology (Ah-Peng et al., 2012), but incorporated some modifications according to the conditions and knowledge of the Azores flora (Gabriel et al., 2014; Borges et al., 2018). The sampling involved 12 sites, located at 200 m elevation intervals, ranging from 10 meters to 2200 meters. At each site, two plots of 10 m by 10 m were placed within a homogeneous ecosystem, 10 to 15 m apart from each other. Three quadrats measuring 2 meters by 2 meters were randomly surveyed from each plot. Three replicates (microplots) measuring 5 centimeters by 10 centimeters each, were collected from six different substrates: rock, soil, humus, organic matter, bark, and leaves/fronds, whenever available. 
Back in the laboratory, taxa were identified to the species/subspecies level, whenever possible, and the cover-abundance and sociability of each specimen bryophyte species from each microplot.

Data published through GBIF: http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=bryophytes_pico_2012

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: Mosses and liverworts.
Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Bryophyta, Marchantiophyta
Class: Bryopsida, Jungermanniopsida, Marchantiopsida, Polytrichopsida, Sphagnopsida
Common names: Mosses, Liverworts, Mosses, Leafy liverworts, Thallose liverworts, Mosses, Peat mosses, Plants

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: The study was carried out in Pico Island (Azores Archipelago, Portugal). The 12 sampling sites, were distributed across the three municipalities of the island: Lajes do Pico, São Roque do Pico and Madalena
Coordinates: 38°23'16.8''N and 38°33'46.8''N Latitude; 28°32'52.8''W and 28°1'33.6''W Longitude 

Temporal coverage: September 4, 2012 - September 10, 2012

Natural collections description

Parent collection identifier: 76349556-a70a-4ecc-88a7-cd085b6c875d
Collection name: Herbarium of the University of Azores (AZU) – Section Bryophytes
Collection identifier: AZU_Section Bryophytes
Specimen preservation method: Dried

Methods

Method step description: Firstly, field and laboratory work were completed in order to have herbarium records fully identified (Coelho et al., 2021):
1.	Conceptualize an adequate research design to improve the knowledge of the bryoflora of native habitats in Pico Island (Azores, Portugal);
2.	Select 12 sites along an elevational transect in Pico Island, using areas with the highest cover of native vascular plant species; 
3.	Select two study plots (10 m x 10 m) per site, separated by 10-15 m within a homogeneous vegetation area;
4.	In each plot, randomly select three quadrats (2 m x 2 m) for further inspection;
5.	In each selected quadrat, examine all available substrates, including rock, soil, humus, organic matter, bark, and leaves/fronds. Collect three samples, replicates or microplots (10 cm x 5 cm) from each substrate;
6.	Dry the material in an airy and darkened room;
7.	Identify the species present in each microplot;
8.	Store samples in the Herbarium of the University of the Azores – Section Bryophytes (AZU-B).
Secondly, data files were prepared to share information regarding Pico Island bryophytes with GBIF and other platforms, using Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables.
1.	Prepare a core data table (events), containing the 878 records, corresponding to each microplot of 10 cm x 5 cm;
2.	Prepare one data table extension (occurrence), with 4896 records, corresponding to the inventory of all bryophytes found in the microplots.
Study extent description: This study covers 12 sites, each including two plots of 100 m2 each, placed along an elevation gradient, with a 200 m elevation step, from 10 m to 2200 m a.s.l. in Pico Island (Azores, Portugal). The transect starts in Manhenha, at 10 m a.s.l., and ends at the large Caldeira of Pico Mountain, at 2200 m. a.s.l., roughly following an East-West direction.
Sampling description: The inventory was conducted during September 2012 under the responsibility of Rosalina Gabriel and Claudine Ah-Peng, with the participation of Márcia Catarina Mendes Coelho, Silvia Calvo Aranda, Débora S. G. Henriques and Fernando Pereira. Paulo A.V. Borges generally helped in the field.
Bryophytes were sampled along the elevation gradient using a modified BRYOLAT standardised method in order to include taxonomic information of phorophytes and environmental data (Ah-Peng et al., 2012; Gabriel et al., 2014; Borges et al., 2018). 
At each site, two plots of 10 m x 10 m were set 10-15 m apart. Each plot was thus divided into 25 quadrats (2 m x 2 m), from which three were randomly selected to further inspection. Each quadrat was carefully examined to collect three microplots of 50 cm2 (10 cm x 5 cm) for each of the substrates that were colonized by bryophytes: rock, soil, humus, organic matter, tree bark and leaves/fronds. The three microplots from bark were sampled in stratified way along the height of the tree, at the lowest (1-50 cm), medium (51-100 cm) and higher (101-200 cm) spots.
Environmental data for each microplot was obtained in ordinal scales for Light, Evaporation, Humidity and Rugosity, using the scales proposed by Gabriel & Bates (2005).
Quality control description: FIELD: Plots were placed within homogeneous areas of the most representative native vegetation found at each sampled elevation. A visit made by PAVB and RG in July 2012 prospected the best sampling sites. Sampling was made by experienced bryologists, who ensured the samples were properly collected, while avoiding the excessive removal of material.

STORAGE: After the collection of the microplots for paper bags, these were left open and separated in a darkened room until complete dehydration. After identification, every sample was transferred to herbarium envelopes properly identified. All these envelopes were stored on the Herbarium of the University of the Azores (AZU), Section Bryophytes, under the name “MOVECLIM – AZORES project: Bryophytes from Pico Island (2012)”.

TAXONOMY: All efforts were made to achieve an accurate identification of the specimens: (i) the most updated keys and floras were used by / under the supervision of experienced bryologists; (ii) challenging samples were sent to specialists for confirmation / identification; (iii) identification of extremely small or etiolated specimens was not pursued to the species level.
Mosses were identified using the floras of Smith (2004) and Casas et al. (2006), whereas liverworts were identified using the floras written by Paton (1999) and Casas et al. (2009) and the taxonomic key of Schumacker and Váňa (2005). Visual guides (e.g. Atherton et al. 2010; Lüth, 2019) were also consulted, as well as the BBS Field Guide online pages, the Bildatlas der Moose Deutschlands for morphological and ecological data. Nomenclature follows Gabriel et al. (2010) and adaptations available on the Azorean Biodiversity Portal (2023).
Species identification was performed by Márcia Catarina Mendes Coelho, under the supervision of Rosalina Gabriel, and by Helena Hespanhol. In 2023, all the Frullania specimens were reviewed by Leila Nunes Morgado under the supervision of Rosalina Gabriel. The identification of some challenging specimens was performed by Manuela Sim-Sim and Cecília Sérgio.

REPRESENTATIVENESS OF THE PICO BRYOFLORA: Species accumulation curves were generated based on a presence–absence microplot-scale matrix using Chao 2 estimator. Sampling completeness was high both for liverworts (87.5%) and mosses (94.5%) (Coelho et al., 2021).

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive The MOVECLIM – AZORES project: Bryophytes from Pico Island (2012)
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: http://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/archive.do?r=bryophytes_pico_2012
Publication date of data: 2023-11-13
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2023-10-16
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
Ah-Peng, C., Wilding, N., Kluge, J., Descamps-Julien, B., Bardat, J., Chuah-Petiot, M., ... & Hedderson, T. A. (2012). Bryophyte diversity and range size distribution along two altitudinal gradients: Continent vs. island. Acta Oecologica, 42, 58-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2012.04.010
Atherton, I., Bosanquet, S., & Lawley, M. (Eds.). (2010). Mosses and liverworts of Britain and Ireland: a field guide. Plymouth: British Bryological Society. ISBN 978-0-9561310-1-0
Azorean Biodiversity Portal. (2023, october, 12). Portal da Biodiversidade dos Açores. https://azoresbioportal.uac.pt/
Borges, P. A., Cardoso, P., Kreft, H., Whittaker, R. J., Fattorini, S., Emerson, B. C., ... & Gabriel, R. (2018). Global Island Monitoring Scheme (GIMS): a proposal for the long-term coordinated survey and monitoring of native island forest biota. Biodiversity and conservation, 27, 2567-2586. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-018-1553-7
Casas, C., Brugués, M., Cros, R. M. & Sérgio, C. (2006). Handbook of mosses of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands: illustrated keys to genera and species. Institut d'Estudis Catalans. ISBN 84-7283-865-X
Casas, C., Brugués, M., Cros, R. M., Sérgio, C. & Infante, M. (2009). Handbook of liverworts and hornworts of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands: illustrated keys to genera and species. Institut d'estudis Catalans. ISBN 9788492583553
Coelho, M. C., Gabriel, R., Hespanhol, H., Borges, P. A., & Ah-Peng, C. (2021). Bryophyte diversity along an elevational gradient on Pico Island (Azores, Portugal). Diversity, 13(4), 162. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13040162
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Gabriel, R., Sjögren, E., Schumacker, R., Sérgio, C., Aranda, S. C., Claro, D., ... & Martins, B. (2010). List of bryophytes (Anthocerotophyta, Marchantiophyta, Bryophyta). A list of the terrestrial and marine fungi, flora and fauna from the Azores, pp. 99-115. Princípia.
Lüth, M. (2019). Mosses of Europe - A Photographic Flora. Freiburg, Germany. ISBN 978-3-00-062952-5
Paton, J. A. (1999). The liverwort flora of the British Isles. Harley Books. ISBN 0946589607
Schumacker, R., & Vána, J. (2005). Identification keys to the liverworts and hornworts of Europe and Macaronesia (2nd ed.). Station Scientifique des Hautes-Fagnes. ISBN 10: 8389949113
Smith, A. J. E. (2004). The moss flora of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511541858