Sphagnum divinum (sp. nov.) and S. medium Limpr. and their relationship to S. magellanicum Brid.
By K. Hassel, M. O. Kyrkjeeide, N. Yousefi, T. Prestø, H. Stenøien, J. Shaw, K. Flatberg. Journal of Bryology, 2018
129 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Sphagnum magellanicum has been viewed as being a predominantly circumpolar species in the northern hemisphere, but it occurs in the southern hemisphere and was originally described from the southern parts of Chile. It is an ecologically important species in mire ecosystems and has been extensively used as a model to study processes of growth, carbon sequestration and peat decomposition. Molecular and experimental studies have, however, revealed genetic structure within S. magellanicum, and morphological differences associated with these genetic groups. Here we describe Sphagnum divinum in Sphagnum subgenus Sphagnum (Sphagnaceae, Bryophyta) as a new species, based on molecular and morphological evidence. Sphagnum medium is reinstated as a distinct species and is epitypified. Consequently, a new species concept of S. magellanicum is presented including an epitypification. Important morphological characters to separate these three species in the field and under the microscope are presented. Ecology and distribution differ among the species; S. divinium has a wide habitat range including mire margin, forested peatlands and moist heaths, and a circumpolar distribution around the northern hemisphere. Sphagnum medium seems to be more restricted to ombrotrophic mire expanse habitats and shows an amphi-Atlantic distribution in the northern hemisphere. Sphagnum magellanicum has a very broad ecological niche in peatlands and is found in most mire habitats in Tierra del Fuego on the southern tip of South America.
Subfields: Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a7343f30d3a71c8a4a958316a100ec95e7fc0784
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In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Citations in the corpus
- An annotated checklist of bryophytes of Europe, Macaronesia and Cyprus (2019, background): “140Plagiochasma rupestre var. volkii Bischl. occurs in South America and southern Africa.”