In order to draw attention to the risks of introducing alien species into the wild, the moss group of the Latvian Botanic Society has applied for the moss of the year 2024. Campylopus introverted. For now, it is the only invasive foreign moss species in Latvia, mostly found in bogs affected by peat extraction.
A stranger in degraded places
“Moss is a common bent leaf Campylopus introverted – There is an immigrant in Latvia. Its natural range covers the southern hemisphere: South America and the southern part of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, as well as the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific islands. In the 1940s, this moss was introduced to the British Isles and soon spread almost throughout Europe, except for Finland,” explains the representative of the Latvian Botanical Society, bryologist Ligita Liepiņa, and adds that there are three species of the genus Ligita in Latvia.
The fragile hinge Campylopus fragilis found on sandstone outcrops in the Gauja National Park, but pear-shaped curved leaf C. pyriformis grows in moss bogs and on peaty soil. Both species are very rare in the country with only a few known deposits all discovered within the last five years.
Since this species has spread rapidly outside its natural range, it can be considered an invasive species. Any living organism, including plants, insects, fish, fungi, even bacteria and organism seeds, can become an unwanted stranger in domestic flora and fauna. According to the Nature Protection Board, alien species can acquire the title “invasive”, which, when they arrive in new places of residence, can start to reproduce rapidly, spread aggressively, suppress local species, threaten ecosystems and even cause damage to both nature and people.
In Latvia, the common hornbill was first detected in 2005, in Lithuania much earlier – in 1996, while it was noticed in the nature of Estonia in 2007. Since its arrival in Latvia, the common sedge has spread throughout the country in the last twenty to thirty years and is already known in more than fifty places, however, mainly in bogs affected by peat mining. Currently, 22 sightings of the plover have been registered on the nature observation portal Dabasdati.lv, where everyone is invited to report their observations – eight of them this year. Most of the expectations are on the Kurzeme side, but the bryologist knows to say that in nature the curved leaf has also been observed on the Latgale side.
“In Latvia, we consider the sedge more a pioneer species, or a species that first takes root in an open place, rather than an invasive species. It can be found in many excavated swamps. We do not actively combat it,” explains the bryologist. Currently, the species does not cause significant damage to natural values in Latvia, as it is mostly found in degraded areas. However, it is important to monitor the distribution of the species in order to assess its impact on the local flora, especially in coastal dunes and heaths. Common knotweed reproduces by spores or vegetatively by leaf fragments. This moss grows mostly in degraded areas, also on forest edges, in tree plantations on sandy soil, in clearings and along forest drainage ditches, also in heaths or gray dunes.
White fluffy carpet
Common sedge is a yellowish or olive-colored moss that turns gray when dry. The leaves are narrowly lanceolate with an outgoing vein that passes into a transparent hair – they make the moss relatively easy to see and recognize. When the moss is dry, the leaves fold together, protect moisture, but the white hairs bend – then the hairs at the end of each leaf resemble a small star. The white hair protects the moss from drying out. Interestingly, the external appearance of the plant changes depending on where it grows: in wet conditions, the moss looks dark green, fluffy and hairless. It usually grows in dense beds. Due to the characteristic hairs, moss turfs sometimes resemble a white, fluffy carpet. The bryologist assumes that some species of insects could overwinter in their turf.
The Nature Protection Administration refers to the studies of scientists who, when assessing the possible impact of common lichen on the environment, observed that in sandy grasslands, dominated by lichen, this species creates a dense carpet within fifteen years. In an experiment under greenhouse conditions, scientists have also proven that the ordinary bent leaf has a negative effect on the germination of silage heather seeds – the seeds do not reach the soil, they do not receive enough water and light. In addition, an increasingly homogeneous composition of mosses in turn reduces the diversity of insect food. It is believed that with the appearance of the common sedge in the dunes in the Netherlands, the steppe chipmunk disappeared – as the microclimate changed, the availability of the chipmunk’s food – arthropods – decreased.
According to the Latvian Botanic Society, the previous experience of limiting the invasion of common sedge in foreign countries, including controlled burning, covering with sand, cutting sod, and using herbicides, has generally turned out to be unsuccessful. Therefore, botanists believe that the best way to limit the spread of common sedge is to restore the natural moisture regime in drained bogs, including developed peat bogs.
From the stomach to Mars
There is no information on whether this moss would be applicable to human life in a practical case if it were to spread rapidly and should be controlled. When asked if there are any mosses that we can use in food, bryologist Liepiņa states that a moss that is also found in our nature has been found in the human body since ancient times. True, it is likely that this particular moss entered the digestive tract of this person by accident, and not by deliberate feasting.
Although mosses are found throughout the year, they are low in nutrients, so they are practically not included in the diet of animals. Moss usually has an indigestible structure that the animal cannot completely process. However, one animal does not eat moss – it consumes around seven grams of moss per day, less than three kilograms per year. Moss-eating American whistling bunnies are small, hamster-like critters with short legs, round ears and short tails, known as bleeps, and apparently the inspiration for the Japanese animated yellow bunny Pikachu. These animals feed only on plants, including mosses, and also collect plants to make hay from them. For the whistling hare, when it chews moss, its digestive system releases a substance that in the process enriches this moss with nutrients several times over.
However, researching the use of different moss species shows that certain moss species are used in herbal teas against heart diseases in China. Moss can also be seen in new construction solutions – moss walls and moss roofs are being created – and specially made moss panels are used in the south to combat the temperature rise due to climate change. In addition, researchers have even found a species of moss in the desert, which, according to researchers, could also survive on Mars – in conditions where it is dry, extremely cold and has a high level of radiation.
Source: www.diena.lv
