Relationships Between the Bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi, SE China, and Those of Neighbouring Mountain Regions

Abstract

Abstract:

Mt. Wuyi, located at 27°37‛-27°54‛ N, 117°27‛-117°51‛ E, is the highest mountain

in South-East China. Its main peak, Huanggangshan, is 2158 m above the sea level. In 1955, P.

C. Chen organized the first expedition to Mt. Wuyi, and the authors investigated the different

ravines and the forests of that area in 1976 and from 1979 to 1984 respectively. Up to now

355 species of the bryophytes have been found in Mt. Wuyi.

I. The influence of the factors of geological history on the bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi

Fujian Province, belonging to Cathaysian, one of three Chinese ancient lands, was a part

of ocean until the end of the lower Tertiary. In the early Devonian, Fujian uplifted above the

sea level, but it submerged in the sea later, and then uplifted above the sea level again in the

upper Triassic.

By the end of the lower Triassic the Himalayan movement influenced the paleogeography

of China deeply, and the eastern and central mountains of Fujian uplifted again. In the Ter-

tiary, Fujian was influenced by the hot maritime weather, so the tropical evergreen forests existed

in southern Fujian at that time. The conclusion was made by Z. B. Zhao in 1983 after his long

period of study on geological history of Fujian Province since the Yanshan movement.

According to the morden geographical distribution of Chinese bryophytes, it seems that the

above influence might be related to the bryophytes of Mt. Wuyi and also the southern part of

Zhejian Province. By the end of the Tertiary the weather became cold in most parts of China.

Since then the cold weather and hot weather alternated several times. One kind of the ende-

mic elements of the bryoflora formed in the area from the south-eastern coast of China to the

southeastern Xizang (Tibet), including Japan. They are not specialized at the family level or

closely related to each other, but they have similar distribution and belong to different families.

In the Quaternary, Mt. Wuyi gradually uplifted following the Himalayan movement. As the

weather cooled down in the upper part of the mountain, deciduous broad-leaved and needle-

leaved trees increased there. Meanwhile, temperate genera and species of the bryophytes spread and

invaded South China and entered Mr. Wuyi. Rhytidiadelphus and Hvlocomium probably be-

gan to grow in Mt. Wuyi at that time, and their distribution is quite different from their pri-

mary one. On the other hand, a part of tropical and subtropical bryophytes might enjoy the

changed weather and environment in the Quaternary and existed in a few small localities of Mt.

Wuyi, and the genera Haplomitrium, Endotrichella and Floribundaria are probably their represen-

tatives. From the point of view of geological history we are now living in the interglacial

period and the present natural conditions will last continuously, so they will steadily influence

the bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi in a long period of time.

2. Essential characteristics of the bryoflora in Mt. Wuyi

Due to the geographical position and the other factors of Mt. Wuyi the bryoflora is repre-

sented by numerous tropical and subtropical elements (34.1%), but the East-Asiatic endemic ones

(79.2%) are characteristic of the bryoflora in Mt. Wuyi (Tab. 1). The tropical and subtropical

families of the bryophytes, found south of Changjiang (Yangtzi) River, are Haplomitriaceae (1

genus, 3 species), Porellaceae (2 genera, 8 species), Frullaniaceae (2 genera, 10 species), Lejeun-

eaceae (21 genera, 35 species), Trachypodaceae (3 genera, 4 species), Meteoriaceae (10 genera, 17

species), Neckeraceae (5 genera, 8 species) and Hookeriaceae (3 genera, 3 species). The above

8 families, including 46 genera and 85 species, represent about 1/4 genera (24.3%) and less than

1/4 species (23.9%) of the bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi.

Most species of East-Asiatic elements show very close relationships with Japan, and are

widely distributed from the low altitude of Mt. Wuyi to the summit of Mt. Huanggangshan.

However, the Holarctic species (26.8%) are also important elements of the bryoflora in Mt.

Wuyi, showing its transition nature, although it is located in the subtropics. Moreover, the in-

fluence of the Himalayas also exists in Mt. Wuyi, and the Himalayan elements cover 14.4% in

the bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi. The similarity coefficients between the bryofloras of Central and

South America, Africa and Oceania and that of Mt. Wuyi are from 5.0-9.2% respectively. The

endemic species are not very many and cosmopolitan species are only 7 there.

In 1958, P. C. Chen designated Mt. Wuyi as “the transition region of South and North

China rich in East-Asiatic genera and species”. His very important conclusion is essentially in

accordance with the fact of the bryoflora on Mt. Wuyi. Recently, some of the new records fur-

ther show the characteristics of the bryoflora in Wuyi. Two facts are worth being mentioned.

One is that East-Asiatic genera are only five in Mt. Wuyi. However, there are 9 East-Asiatic

genera in Mt. Huangshan more than in Mt. Wuyi; 4 East-Asiatic genera are recorded in Mt.

Shennongjia. The other is that epiphyllous liverworts in Mt. Wuyi, consisting of 7 families, 21

genera and 36 species, are less than on Hainan Island and Xishuangbannan, located in the tro-

pics in China.

3. Comparison between the bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi and those of the neighbouring regions

As China covers a very large area, bryofloristic elements are quite different in the diffe-

rent regions. In this section, we are concentrated on making a comparison between the bryof-

loras of Mt. Wuyi and the regions belonging to the Central China of the bryoflora named by

P. C. Chen.

Huaping Forest Region, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China, with both

latitute and altitude very similar to Mt. Wuyi, is included in this comparison (Fig. 1). Accord-

ing to the rough estimation, the similarity coefficient of moss genera between Mt. Wuyi and

Huaping is 56.3%, and those between the mountain and southern Zhejian and Mt. Huangshan,

Anhui, are 62.7% and 51.6% respectively, while the similarity coefficient of the genera of the

mossfloras between Mt. Shennongjia and Mt. Wuyi is 46.8%. Table 2 shows the statistics of

mosses in Mt. Wuyi and the others, but the bryoflora of Huaping needs further study However,

it is very interesting to note that Haplomitrium and Pleurozia of liverworts are both found in

Mt. Wuyi and Huaping Forest Region, and the similarity coefficient between the mossfloras of

Mt. Wuyi and Zhejian Province is also higher than those mentioned above.

Tropical and subtropical elements reduce towards the north in China, and temperate ones

increase. Huaping is located in the south, and, as expected, some tropical and subtropical

genera such as Hookeriopsis and Symphyodon have been found there, but not in Mt. Wuyi; several

temperate genera, such as Schwetschkeopsis and Fauriella, have been recorded in Mt. Huangshan,

but not in Mt. Wuyi. For some unknown reasons, Octoblepharum and Neckeropsis are only

found in southern Zhejiang, but not in Mt. Wuyi. Mt. Shennongjia, with its main peak over

1000 m higher than that of Mt. Wuyi, is located in its northwest, and more than ten temperate

genera, such as, Ceratodon, Aulacomnium Myurella, Bryonoguchia and Abietinella have been

found there.

Generally, Mt. Wuyi belongs to the central subtropical region of China, and East-Asiatic

endemic genera are the main elements of its bryoflora, but the bryoflora also consists of tropi-

cal and subtropical elements with some temperate ones.

4. East-Asiatic endemic genera in the bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi

In the bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi, one of the main elements, East-Asiatic endemic genera, should

not be neglected (Tab. 4). East-Asiatic endemic genera in Mt. Wuyi (five) are less than in Mt.

Huangshan and Mt. West Tianmu, although the positions of the latter two are very close to Mt.

Wuyi. East-Asiatic endemic genera of liverworts are Trichocolea and Macvicaria so far found

in Mt. Wuyi, and the mosses are Myuriopsis, Meteoriella, Pseudospiridentopsis (Fig. 1). Myuriop-

sis is only distributed in Taiwan Province and Mt. Wuyi, and the other four are distributed in Mt.

Huangshan or Mt. West Tianmu, and also in Taiwan, besides in Mt. Wuyi. About thirty East-

Asiatic endemic genera have so far been known in China, which means that about one sixth of

East- Asiatic endemic genera of the bryophytes occur in Mt. Wuyi. We may notice that nine

and seven East-Asiatic endemic genera of the bryophytes have been recorded in Mt. Huangshan

and Mt. West Tianmu respectively. In Mt. Shennongjia, Central China, there are four East

Asiatic endemic genera, but only two have been found in the Huaping Forest Region, South

China. In Mt. Dinghua, located south of Mt. Wuyi, on East-Asiatic endemic genus of the bryop-

hytes has so far been found.

East-Asiatic endemic genera of the bryophytes are mainly limited to China, Korea and Japan,

including the East Himalayas, rarely occur in South Asia, Siberia of the Soviet Union. Therefore,

these genera enjoy a warm and moist environment. In Mt. Wuyi, all the East-Asiatic endemic

genera are monotypic ones with a disjunct distribution. Now in Taiwan Province five of six

recorded East-Asiatic endemic genera are common to Mt. Wuyi. In Japan, about eleven, i.e.

one third of, East Asiatic endemic genera so far found are common to China, which shows a

long history of the phytogeographical relationships between Japan and China. East Asiatic en-

demic genera of the bryophytes might therefore exist on islands of Taiwan Province and Japan

before they were separated from the mainland of Asia. However the fossil evidence is still

lacking in the bryophytes, so we are not able to discuss about the distribution area and the dis-

tribution center of the East-Asiatic bryoflora in detail. The above estimation is more or less

related to geological history, and we assume that the East-Asiatic endemic genera have existed at

least since the end of the Tertiary. Starting from the Quaternary, the climatic change during

glacial epoch has been possibly the most important factor affecting the bryoflora in Asia, and

the upheaval of the Himalayas has stimulated the diversity and the specialization of the bryophy-

tes. Considering these factors, East-Asiatic endemic genera might be the “Tertiary fossil

plants”.

Another problem is difficult to explain, because Mts. Huangshan, West Tianmu and Shen-

nongjia were once influenced by glaciation directly, although Chinese geologists hold different

views. However, no evidence of glaciation has been found in Mt. Wuyi. It is worth to study the

close relationships between Mt. Wuyi, Mt. Huangshan and Mt. West Tianmu, where is the distri-

bution center of the East-Asiatic endemic genera. The above three mountain regions share half

of the East-Asiatic endemic genera, and about 32% genera of the others are found in two of

them (Fig. 2). Myuriopsis, one of the East Asiatic types, was only recorded in Taiwan Pro-

vince, Japan and Korea. Neodolichomitra, occuring in Taiwan Province, is endemic to China.

More or less the differentiation has taken place in Mt. Huangshan, Mt. West Tianmu and Mt.

Wuyi. The number of the East-Asiatic endemic genera is smaller in Mt. Wuyi, so it is possibly

located on the border of the distributional center of the East-Asiatic endemic genera. Moreo-

ver, three of four East-Asiatic endemic genera in Mt. Shennongjia are also found in Mt. Huang-

shan and Mt. West Tianmu, but the other East-Asiatic genus in Mt. Wuyi is common to the

mountain areas in SW China, the Qinglin Range of NW China, and the isolated mountain areas

of NE China. Considering all the characteristics of the bryoflora of Mt. Shennongjia, we assume

that Mt. Shennongjia may belong to another distribution center, including SW part of Sichuan

Province, and the other neighbouring mountains.

Key words: bryoflora, East-Asiatic endemic genera, distribution center, Mt.Wuyi, SE China

Wu Pan-Cheng, Li Deng-Ke, Gao Cai-Hua. Relationships Between the Bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi, SE China, and Those of Neighbouring Mountain Regions[J]. .

Relationships Between the Bryoflora of Mt. Wuyi, SE China, and Those of Neighbouring Mountain Regions

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