Angela E Newton, Natural History Museum, London, UK
Published online: July 2001
DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0003676
Mosses are members of the green plant lineage, showing alternation of generations, with an unbranched persistent sporophyte generation dependent on the dominant leafy gametophyte generation. They are the third most speciose group of land plants, and are important members of most terrestrial ecosystems.
Keywords: green plants; Sphagnum; peat; watershed protection; carbon sink
| Further Reading | |
| book Buck WR and Goffinet B (2000) "Morphology and classification of mosses". In: Shaw AJ and Goffinet B (eds) Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |
| ePath Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association website: http://www.peatmoss.com. | |
| ePath International Peat Society website: http://www.peatsociety.fi/index.htm | |
| book Krassilov VA and Schuster RM (1984) "Paleozoic and mesozoic fossils". Schuster RM New Manual of Bryology, vols 1 and 2. Nichinan: The Hattori Botanical Laboratory. | |
| book Malcolm B and Malcolm N (2000) Mosses and Other Bryophytes: An Illustrated Glossary. Nelson, New Zealand: Micro-optics Press. | |
| book Miller NG (1984) "Tertiary and quaternary fossils". Schuster RM New Manual of Bryology, vols 1 and 2. Nichinan: The Hattori Botanical Laboratory. | |
| Min LY and Longton RE (1993) Mosses and the production of Chinese gallnuts. Journal of Bryology 17: 421–430. | |
| Newton AE, Cox CJ, Duckett JG et al. (2000) Evolution of the major moss lineages: Phylogenetic analyses based on multiple gene sequences and morphology. The Bryologist 103: 187–211. | |
| Nickens TE (2001) Catching bandits in the Smokies. National Wildlife Feb/Mar: 34–39. | |
| book O’Neill KP (2000) "Role of bryophyte-dominated ecosystems in the global carbon budget". In: Shaw AJ and Goffinet B (eds) Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |
| Peck JE and McCune B (1998) Commercial moss harvest in northwestern Oregon: biomass and accumulation of epiphytes. Biological Conservation 86: 299–307. | |
| book Poinar GO (1992) Life in Amber. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. | |
| book Richardson DHS (1981) The Biology of Mosses. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. | |
| book Schenk G (1997) Moss Gardening, including Lichens, Liverworts, and other Miniatures. Cambridge: Timber Press. | |
| book Schofield WB (1985) Introduction to Bryology. New York: Macmillan. | |
| book Schuster RM (ed.) (1983–1984) New Manual of Bryology, vols 1 and 2. Nichinan: The Hattori Botanical Laboratory. | |
| book Shaw AJ and Goffinet B (eds) (2000) Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |
| book Smith AJE (1978) The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland. Chatham: W & J Mackay. | |
| book Vitt DH (1984) "Classification of the Bryopsida". Schuster RM New Manual of Bryology, vols 1 and 2. Nichinan: The Hattori Botanical Laboratory. | |
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