Pattern in Corticolous Bryophyte Communities of the North Carolina Piedmont: Do Mosses See the Forest or the Trees?

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Abstract
The cover of corticolous bryophyte species was estimated on trees of seven species [Quercus rubra, Q. alba, Liriodendron tulipifera, Pinus taeda, P. echinata, Platanus occidentalis and Betula nigra] in three forest stands in Orange and Durham Counties, North Carolina, and bryophyte communities were compared using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA), an ordination technique. Few bryophytes are restricted to a given tree species or forest, but different species of trees do tend to bear different bryophyte communities. There is also some differentiation of bryophyte communities according to site. However, DCA arranges bryophyte communities in different sites similarly, even when tree species shared between the sites are not included in the analysis. The bryophyte community patterns seen in this study are similar to patterns described previously in the literature for Wisconsin and the mountains of Virginia.