A Global Action Plan for Bryophyte Conservation

Mosses, liverworts and hornworts: a forgotten part of nature Mosses, liverworts and hornworts belong to a part of the plant kingdom called the bryophytes.

Bryophytes occur on stones, trees, and soil and in the water. They are found mainly in forests, swamps, mountains, mires, and heaths throughout the world in nearly all habitats and are a successful and ancient line of land plants, often forming miniature forests on a tiny scale. Although small, there are a great variety of beautiful forms, requiring only a hand lens to appreciate them fully.

Bryophytes have great importance in ecosystems and are also very important for human well being. For example: They stabilise the soil crust through colonisation of bare ground and rocks; they help to maintain hydrological balance in the ecosystem . The mosses and liverworts act as a sponge, soaking up water quickly and releasing it slowly, reducing the chances of flash flooding downstream; they have economic value e.g., in horticulture, oil absorption, as sources of a wide variety of chemical compounds useful in medicine and the perfume industry, Sphagnum peat for fuel, and as pollution indicators and indicators of habitat quality; they have great cultural and aesthetic qualities; they are important in education, scientific research and as experimental model organisms.