Hassel, K., Prestø, T. & Schmidt, N.M. 2012. Bryophyte diversity in high and low arctic Greenland. Establishment of permanent monitoring transects and bryophyte mapping in Zackenberg and Kobbefjord 2009-2010. Aarhus University, DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, 42 pp. Scientific Report from DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy No. 27. http://www.dmu.dk/Pub/SR27.pdf
This report summarises the establishment of permanent bryophyte monitoring transects at high arctic Zackenberg and in low arctic Kobbefjord. Transects were established at Zackenberg in 2009 and in Kobbefjord in 2010. Along with the establishment of the permanent monitoring infrastructure, a detailed mapping of the bryophyte communities was conducted.
At both sites, bryophytes were one of the main components both in terms of species diversity and frequency in the vegetation. At Zackenberg, species diversity was higher for bryophytes than vascular plants in all transects, except for transects located in snow beds or in the high altitudinal fen. In terms of frequency bryophytes were the dominating functional group in most transects. In Kobbefjord, bryophytes exhibited higher species diversity than vascular plants in most vegetation types, but they were never the dominating group in terms of frequency.
The permanent monitoring infrastructure will allow for future re-examinations to assess the development in bryophyte species diversity in Greenland. All collected data are available through the database of Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (www.g-e-m.dk).
