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     Bryophytes of the Mascarene Islands

Contents

    Background to Project

    Bryophytes of Réunion Island - taxonomic meeting 2008

    Literature References

Background to Project

The Mascarene Islands are a region of high bryological diversity and sit at an interesting biogeographical border, exposed to influences from continental Africa to the west and from Indo-Malesia to the east.  There are currently very few floristic works on tropical African bryophytes though the bryophyte flora of the Mascarene Islands has been comparatively well documented with collections.  

  

The Mascarene Islands are part the biodiversity hotspot of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands, as indicated on the map shown here (Conservation International).  This region is a focus for conservation activity due to the high levels of endemism found here and the threats to the remaining natural habitats.  Réunion Island in particular has a rich bryophyte flora with many alleged endemics. Much of this under-studied diversity is conserved within the natural forest that still covers some 30% of the island’s surface.

 

Map reference - Conservation International:

http://www.conservation.org/explore/priority_areas/hotspots/africa

/Madagascar_and_the_Indian_Ocean_Islands/Pages/default.aspx

 

 

Since 2003, Jacques Bardat (Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle, Paris) and Claudine Ah-Peng (University of Cape Town / Université de la Réunion) have been working towards the publication of the ‘Liverwort and hornwort flora of the Mascarene Islands’.  This flora will be an illustrated book, including identification keys, species descriptions, ecological notes and distribution maps of liverworts and hornworts for these islands.  The production of the ‘Moss flora of the Mascarenes’ is currently being initiated and will involve a larger collaborative effort.  Once completed, these text books will be used to encourage bryology among local students and assist with conservation planning on the island.  To complete this floristic project, collaboration is required with the international community of bryologists. 

In September 2008, several members of the BBS-Tropical Bryology Group participated in the first taxonomic workshop on Réunion Island.  A team of 17 bryologists assembled to collaborate on research for this flora project by testing identification keys on fresh specimens and adding their comments, teaching on their family or genera of expertise and making collections of bryophytes from under-collected areas on the island.  An important aspect of the meeting was to go out in the field with local botanists and conservation managers who were interested in learning more about the diverse bryophyte flora of the island. 

Bryophytes of Réunion Island - taxonomic meeting 2008

The first meeting of the BBS - Tropical Bryology Group on Réunion Island took place in September 2008, hosted by the Université de La Réunion and La Réunion Parc National.       

      Réunion Island taxonomic workshop & field meeting - September 2008   

       

          (Above) Participants of the 2008 workshop on La Réunion. 

Literature

      Literature references relating to bryophytes of the Mascarene Islands