Alleniella besseri

Alataş, Mevlüt, Batan, Nevzat, Ezer, Tülay, Özdemir, Turan & Erata, Hüseyin, 2021, Epiphytic bryophyte communities of forests dominated by Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertner in Altindere Valley National Park (Trabzon, Turkey), Cryptogamie, Bryologie 20 (11), pp. 155-167 : 160-161

Alleniella besseri -Leucodontetum immersi Ezer, Alataş & Batan as. nov. ( Table 5)

HOLOTYPUS. — Prov. Trabzon, Altındere Valley, 594 m, Alnus glutinosa forest.

NOMENCLATURAL TYPE. — Table 6, relevé no. 5, holotypus.

CHARACTERISTIC SPECIES. — Alleniella besseri , Leucodon immersus .

Alleniella besseri-Leucodontetum immersi is represented by a total of 15 relevés taken from the A. glutinosa trunks. It is spread between 594-1107 m, especially in the northern parts of the study area. The general bryophyte cover of the association varies between 65% and 97%, while the canopy cover varies between 90% and 100%. The number of the taxa in the relevés varies between 3 and 10. The community consists of a total of 36 taxa. Among them, 9 are liverworts and 27 are mosses (19 pleurocarpous, 8 acrocarpous). Both the coverage percentages and the high proportion of the pleurocarpous taxa indicate that humid habitats in the area are more abundant than semi-arid habitats.

Within the relevés, the xerophyte Alleniella besseri , with a constancy of 93%, together with Leucodon immersus , with a constancy of 100%, are the main characteristics of the association and the taxa with the highest frequency. Both species generally grow on tree trunks and on rock surfaces. They are widespread in semi-arid and semi-neutral habitats.

There are class, order and alliance characteristics such as Alleniella complanata , Radula complanata , Pseudoamblystegium subtile , Metzgeria furcata , Metzgeria conjugata , Anomodon attenuatus , A. viticulosus , Porella platyphylla , Frullania tamarisci , Homalothecium sericeum and Pseudoleskeella catenulata in the Alleniella besseri-Leucodontetum immersi. Therefore, the new association was synhierarchically classified in the Neckereta complanatae, Neckeretalia complanatae, and Neckerion complanatae ( Table 5).

Alleniella besseri and Leucodon immersus , the characteristic species of the community, grow in epiphytic and epilithic habitats. This situation is highly compatible with the class Neckeratea complanatae which spreads in both epiphytic and epilitic environments in the world.