Nyholmiella gymnostoma (Bruch ex Brid.) Holmen & Warncke

Alegro, Antun, Dragićević, Snežana, Šegota, Vedran & Ćetković, Ilinka, 2019, Stepping beyond the 700 milestone: four new moss species in the bryophyte flora of Montenegro, Cryptogamie, Bryologie 20 (9), pp. 97-103 : 99

Nyholmiella gymnostoma (Bruch ex Brid.) Holmen & Warncke

SPECIMEN EXAMINED. — Montenegro. Gradac Hill, above the town of Mojkovac, on the slopes of Bjelasica Mt, 42°57’01”N, 19°37’53”E, 1152 m a.s.l., 23.VIII.2016, leg. and det. S. Dragićević s.n., Natural History Museum of Montenegro herbarium no. 1656/134.

REMARKS

The species was found on bark of Populus tremula L., growing on the forest edge of mixed deciduous and conifer woodland, on medieval archaeological locality Brskovo, geographically situated outside the Mediterranean part of Montenegro, but still under some influence of Mediterranean on the precipitation regime. Specimens formed only three tiny tufts on the tree trunk, at the 1.4 m height. Generally, the species is related to bark of the Populus trees ( Dierssen 2001; Smith 2004; Atherton et al. 2010). No capsules were found, and a tiny liverwort, Radula complanata (L.) Dumort., was noticed among the leaves of the moss. Nyholmiella gymnostoma is a Boreal-montane element, beside Europe known also in central Asia, Japan and rarely in N America ( Hill & Preston 1998; Smith 2004; Vitt 2014). It is most common in boreal Europe ( Hill & Preston 1998; Lara & Estébanez 2014), while in central and E Europe it is rare ( Nebel & Philippi 2001). In SE Europe it is extremely rare, or at least under-recorded, being only known from Bulgaria ( Natcheva & Ganeva 2005), Romania ( Stefănuţ & Goia 2012) and Slovenia (recorded at the end of 19th century and published in Pavletić 1955). After being recorded for the first time in Mediterranean area, in Calabria ( Italy) ( Lara et al. 2004), several new records from Mediterranean countries appeared. In Albania and Greece, the species has been recorded very recently, in Drilon National Park, on trunk of Tilia ( Ellis et al. 2012) and in Epirus region (NW Greece) on trunk of Juglans regia L. ( Ellis et al. 2016b), respectively. Additionally, the species has been found in Spain, in the autonomous community Castille-La Mancha ( Cezón & Muñoz 2013). The population in Romania is critically endangered ( Stefănuţ & Goia 2012), while that in Bulgaria is vulnerable ( Natcheva et al. 2006). Our record seems to be the only recent finding of the species in W Balkans. Since our specimens have been found on the Populus tremula trees growing within the archaeological excavation site, possible tree cut could represent a major threat to the species.