01959nas a2200205   4500008004100000245011100041210006900152300001400221490000700235520130200242653002501544653001401569653001401583653003201597653002801629653001201657100001901669700002101688856004401709       2004                        eng d00aBryophyte Dispersal Inferred from Colonization of an Introduced Substratum on Whiteface Mountain, New York0 aBryophyte Dispersal Inferred from Colonization of an Introduced   a1173-11820 v913 a<p>A long-standing debate in bryophyte biogeography concerns the frequency of long-distance spore dispersal. The diversity of bryophytes on mortared rock walls along the Veterans Memorial Highway on Whiteface Mountain, New York, USA, was studied to document the recruitment of species over the 65 years since the highway was constructed. The highway is situated in the Adirondack Mountains, a relatively unpopulated region with a largely acidic flora. The introduction of mortar has increased the bryophyte diversity by 50% above that of native lithic substrata on the mountain. The composition of the native and mortar floras differed greatly, suggesting that the walls were not colonized by locally abundant ruderal species. Many of the species sampled on the walls are typically found only in lower elevation forested sites, distant (∼5 km or more) from the highway, and not on anthropogenic calcium carbonate. These results suggest that a bryophyte community consisting of common and uncommon species assembled from distant sites at the rate of at least one species per year in the last 65 years. These data provide the ecological context for experimental and phylogeographic studies and suggest that some bryophytes may be capable of routine dispersal over distances of at least 5 km.</p>
10aAdirondack Mountains10abryophyte10acalcicole10acalcium carbonate substrata10aLong-distance dispersal10aruderal1 aMiller, N., G.1 aMcDaniel, S., F.  uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.91.8.1173