A group of researchers from theAutonomous University of Madrid, theUniversity of Valenciay elRoyal Botanic Garden of Edinburghhave discovered the new species of mosses in China. Their most notable feature is the size of their spores, which are almost ten times larger than normal in similar species.
As explained by the Autonomous University of Madrid, the superspores of this type of moss could offer an adaptive advantage in terms of their dispersal. This type of reproduction structures are created when the sporal cell germinates within the wall itself, being able to expand without breaking. In this way, these organisms begin to develop before even reaching what will be their “home” for life. Thanks to this type of multicellular spores, rapid germination and the settlement of adult moss in very unstable areas would be achieved .
But not only the exaggerated size of their spores, which serve to disperse and reproduce, is what is curious and special about these new species. The habitat in which they grow is also characteristic. These two new epiphytes (those organisms that grow on tree trunks and branches in environments where there is little water) live only in forests located at more than 3,700 meters of altitude.
In the Yangtze basin
Exactly, they have been able to take samples of them in high areas of the Yangtze basin, in the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, in China. The forests of this area and of the foothills of the Himalayas are dominated by firs, larches, junipers, oaks …
These new species, Ulota yunnanensis and Ulota gigantospora join the other three of the genus Ulota , to which they belong, which existed until now. In addition, it should be noted that none of them had been found in the Asian continent, which may be key to the knowledge of this genus in eastern Asia, Australasia and western America .
The analysis of this group of international researchers has been published recently in the Journal of Bryology .
