ACTA BOT. CROAT. 79 (1), 2020 95 Acta Bot. Croat. 79 (1), 95–97, 2020 CODEN: ABCRA 25 DOI: 10.37427/botcro-2020-004 ISSN 0365-0588 eISSN 1847-8476 Short communication Physcomitrium eurystomum Sendtn., a new moss species in the bryophyte flora of Montenegro Danijela Stešević*, Branko Anđić, Milica Stanišić-Vujačić Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Montenegro, Džordža Vašingtona bb, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro Abstract – In a vegetation survey conducted in the northeast part of Montenegro, Physcomitrium eurystomum Sendtn. was collected. This is a new moss species for the bryophyte flora of Montenegro. The species has a wide temperate-tropical distribution, but its populations are rather scattered. In most European countries, the species is included on the relevant national Red Lists and most recently, it was added to the European Red List of Mosses, Liverworts and Hornworts. In order to expand our knowledge of its distribution in Montenegro, and to assess its IUCN threat status, further investigations are needed. Keywords: Biodiversity, conservation, Funariaceae. * Corresponding author e-mail: danijela.stesevic@ucg.ac.me Introduction Bryological research in Montenegro has been intensi- fied over the last two decades, and this has resulted in a sig- nificant number of new publications and records (Anđić et al. 2018). Nevertheless, because some regions still remain completely unexplored, our knowledge of the diversity of the bryophyte flora of Montenegro cannot be considered complete and new discoveries can be expected. During vegetation research in the gorge of Bukovička Rijeka (in the northeast part of Montenegro), one new moss species belonging to the bryophyte flora of Monte- negro was collected – Physcomitrium eurystomum Sendtn. Although, this temperate-tropical example of bryophyte flora (Dierßen 2001) is distributed across Europe, tropical Africa, and southern, southeastern and southwestern parts of Asia, its populations are rather scattered (Porley 2013, Hodgetts 2015). The European scope of the range includes: to the north Denmark, to the west Great Britain, in the south France and Italy, in central areas Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slo- vakia and Switzerland, in the southeast Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Turkey, and in the east Belarus, the Crimea, Latvia, northwest Russia and Ukraine (Papp et al. 2013, ECCB 2016). In the majority of these countries it has a defined status category, and it was recently included in the European Red List of Mosses, Liverworts and Hornworts (Hodgetts et al. 2019). In this paper, we present the details of the first record of P. eurystomum in Montenegro; however, in order to extend our knowledge of its distribution in the whole country, and to de- fine its conservation status, further investigations are needed. Material and methods The study area Bukovička Rijeka, located in the northeast part of Mon- tenegro, is a left tributary of the Ibar River; it is formed by two arms that originate at 1500 and 1600 m a.s.l. After 20 km and a drop of ca. 600–700 m, it flows into the Ibar River at 865 m a.s.l. Although the river is water poor, it has strong erosive energy; thus, it has carved a narrow, 200 m deep and 5 km long gorge in the middle and lower part of its flow. This gorge is very narrow; in some areas, the two sides of the gorge are just 5m from each other. The geological sub- strate consists of lower and middle Triassic limestone. The climate fits into the cold alpine type with long and snowy winters, and short and fresh summers. The gorge is charac- terized by an inversion of both temperature and vegetation, which means, for example, that the mesophilous beech for- ests (Fagion moesiacae Blečić et Lakušić 1970) are developed in lower positions along the gorge, and thermophilous oak and hornbeam forests (Ostryion carpinifoliae Lakušić 1975) in the upper ones (Markišić and Martinović 1998). STEŠEVIĆ D, ANĐIĆ B, STANIŠIĆ-VUJAČIĆ M 96 ACTA BOT. CROAT. 79 (1), 2020 Sampling Specimens of Physcomitrium eurystomum were collected in June 2018 during a vegetation survey of Bukovička Rije- ka, from the muddy soils alongside the stream. The species was identified according to Smith (2004), while the nomen- clature follows Ros et al. (2013). Specimens were deposit- ed in the Herbarium Collection at the University of Mon- tenegro (TGU), Voucher number 1419038. During the field trip, notes on the relevant habitats, substrates and associated bryophytes were taken. Results and discussion Physcomitrium eurystomum Sendtn. Specimen examined: Montenegro; Gorge of Bukovička Rijeka, 42°55'22'' N, 20°15'31'' E, 970 m a.s.l.; Date: June 23, 2018; Leg. et Det.: D. Stešević, B. Anđić, M. Stanišić-Vujačić; Taxonomic confirmation: Beata Papp; Herbarium number (TGU): 1419038. In the muddy soil deposits in the gorge at a distance of ca. 4 m from the water body, two turfs of Physcomitrium eu- rystomum were found (Fig. 1), of an approximate size of 5 cm2 each. On both patches, fruiting gametophytes were no- ticed. The P. eurystomum was accompanied by Marchantia polymorpha L., Bryum pseudotriquetrum (Hedw.) P. Gaertn., Weissia controversa Hedw. and Riccia sp., all growing in the shadow of Petasites hybridus (L.) G. Gaertn., B. Mey. et Sc- herb. Physcomitrium eurystomum is considered to be one of the representative species for Habitat Type C3.5b – Peri- odically exposed shore with stable, mesotrophic sediments with pioneer or ephemeral vegetation (Deil 2005), which is quoted in the European Red List of Habitats. At this rather remote site in the gorge of Bukovička Rijeka, human impact is completely absent; thus, the only possible threat to the spe- cies might be a change in the watercourse or the configura- tion of the riverbank. Up to now, the Bryophyte flora of Montenegro has in- cluded only one species of the genus Physcomitrium – the cosmopolitan species P. pyriforme, which, according to Sabovljević et al. (2004), is classified as LR (low risk) on the Bryophyte Red List of Serbia and Montenegro. So far the species has been reported in 22 European countries (Papp et al. 2013, ECCB 2016), while in 15 it has a defined status category: Endangered in Great Britain (Hodgetts 2011) and Hungary (Papp et al. 2010); Highly Endangered in Austria (ECCB 2016); Vulnerable in Ger- many (ECCB 2016), the Czech Republic (Kučera and Váňa 2003), Slovakia (Šoltés et al. 2002), Switzerland (BAFU 2011), and Estonia (Ingerpuu et al. 2018); Threatened in Belarus (Maslovsky 2005), Belgium (ECCB 2016), Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey (Sabovljević et al. 2001); Susceptible in the Netherlands (ECCB 2016) and Data Deficient in Slove- nia (Martinčić 2016). In the Balkan peninsula, the species is reported in Serbia (Papp et al. 2013), Bulgaria, and Slovenia (Sabovljević et al. 2008), but due to the presence of similar habitat types in other parts of the peninsula, new records are expected. More recently, the P. eurystomum was included on the European Red List of Mosses, Liverworts and Horn- worts (Hodgetts et al. 2019), within the following IUCN Red List Categories: Europe VU B2b(ii,iii)c(iii,iv) and EU 28 (28 European Union countries) EN B2b(ii,iii)c(iii,iv). Consid- ering its status in Montenegro, based on what is currently limited knowledge, it is not possible to assess its IUCN con- servation status. As such, further investigations are needed and recommended. Taking into account its international status category, we consider the species to be a good poten- tial candidate for the new and supplemented list of protect- ed plants in Montenegro. Acknowledgements This study was financially supported by the Montenegrin Ministry of Science within the bilateral project with Austria “Vegetation of the rock crevices with special focus to the Moltkeetalia petraeae order”. We would like to thank to the anonymous reviewers for their careful reading of our manu- script and many valuable suggestions and comments. Fig. 1. Habitus of Physcomitrium eurystomum: sporophytes with urn-shape capsules (A), leaves shape (B) and leaf detail (C). PHYSCOMITRIUM EURYSTOMUM IN MONTENEGRO ACTA BOT. CROAT. 79 (1), 2020 97 References Anđić, B., Berg, C., Stešević, D., 2018: New and interesting bryo- phytes of Albania and Montenegro. Herzogia 31, 436–443. BAFU, 2011: Liste der National Prioritären Arten. Arten mit na- tionaler Priorität für die Erhaltung und Förderung, Stand 2010. Umwelt-Vollzug 1103. Bundesamt für Umwelt, Bern. Deil, U., 2005: A review on habitats, plant traits and vegetation of ephemeral wetlands – a global perspective. Phytocoenolo- gia 35, 533–706. Dierβen, K., 2001: Distribution, ecological amplitude and phyto- sociological characterization of European bryophytes. Bryo- phytorum Bibliotheca 56. J. Cramer, Berlin, Stuttgart. 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