Pleurozium schreberi, Schreber's big red stem moss
Tesky, Julie L. 1992. Pleurozium schreberi, Schreber's big red stem moss. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/plesch
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| PLESCH | Schreber's big red stem moss | Pleurozium schreberi | Life Form: Plants/Bryophyte Kingdom: Plantae Class: Moss Order: Hypnales Family: Hylocomiaceae Genus: Pleurozium | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The scientific name for Schreber's big red stem moss is Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt., J. Linn. [16,24,37].
Synonyms
- Calliergonella schreberi (Brid.) Grout
Other Common Names
feather moss, red-stemmed feather moss, Schreber's moss
General Distribution
Schreber's big red stem moss is a widespread and common moss ranging from Greenland to Alaska south (principally in uplands) to North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Dakota, Colorado and west to Washington, California and Oregon. It also is found in South America, Europe, and Asia [16,35]. It occurs in the Cordilleran Ranges and southward to Costa Rica, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Patagonia [35]. Schreber's big red stem moss is new to Mexico, where it has been found on the Cofre de Perote Volcano [18].
Distribution of Schreber's big red stem moss.
States and Provinces
- United States: AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE ID IL IN IA KY ME MD MA MI MN MT NH NJ NY NC ND OH OR PA RI SD TN UT VT VA WA WV WI WY
- Canada: AB BC MB NB NF NT NS ON PE PQ SK YT
- Mexico
Site Characteristics
Schreber's big red stem moss often occurs in closed to semi-open coniferous forests predominantly in boreal and cool temperate climates. It also occurs in damp woods, swamps, or margins of bogs. Although Schreber's big red stem moss is most abundant in old, closed, mesic stands, it is also found in dry, nutrient-poor, open, black spruce-lichen stands in suitable areas at the base of birch (Betula spp.) and black spruce [19,21,35]. In Alabama, Schreber's big red stem moss is found growing abundantly on a large soil island over granite beneath Georgia oak (Quercus georgiana) [35].
Soils: Schreber's big red stem moss occurs on humus and exposed mineral soil and coarse fragments or rocks [21]. It is often abundant on nitrogen-poor, acidic soils throughout much of its range and is sometimes used as an indicator of acidic soils [24,35]. The pH at one Schreber moss site is 5.7 [35]. Soil textures range from course to fine sand, loam, or clay-loam [17]. It normally does not grow on calcareous soils [2].
Plant Communities
Schreber's big red stem moss typically occurs as a dominant or codominant ground cover in stands dominated by white spruce (Picea glauca) or black spruce (P. mariana). The black spruce-Schreber's big red stem moss forest community described by Foster [13] is the most widespread vegetation type in southern Labrador and occupies a wide range of sites from poorly drained outwash plains to convex slopes and hill crests. In the black spruce/ bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum)-bog Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum)/Schreber's big red stem moss community type described by Foote [12], Schreber's big red stem moss commonly covers about half of the forest floor. Published classification schemes identifying Schreber's big red stem moss as a ground cover dominant or codominant are as follows:
- Some forest types of central Newfoundland and their relation to environmental factors [7].
- Forest community types of west-central Alberta in relation to selected environmental factors [6].
- Classification, description, and dynamics of plant communities after fire in the taiga of interior Alaska [12].
- A review of forest site classification activities in Newfoundland and Labrador [25].
- Preliminary classification of forest vegetation of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska [28].
- Vegetation types and environmental factors associated with foothills gas pipeline route, Yukon Territory [30].
- Flood-plain succession and vegetation classification in interior Alaska [33].
Plant associates: Schreber's big red stem moss is often associated with the following species: mountain fern moss (Hylocomium splendens), salal (Gaultheria shallon), big huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum), pachistima (Pachistima myrsinites), queencup beadlily (Clintonia uniflora), ptilium (Ptilium crista-castrensis), Labrador-tea, mountain cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea minus), bog blueberry, black crowberry (Empetrum nigra), and peat mosses (Sphagnum spp.) [12,21].
Botanical Description
Schreber's big red stem moss is a perennial, relatively large, robust moss with a weave growth form. It is usually prostrate or partly erect, freely branched, and grows in mats rather than tufts [24]. The stems are 2.4 to 4.5 inches (6-15 cm) long, and the leaves loosely imbricate [16].
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- No entry
Seasonal Development
The beginning of blooming in mosses occurs when one or two archegonia open. In North America, Schreber's big red stem moss blooms in August and September [24]. The gametangial develop in spring of the following year. In Germany, fertilization generally occurs in May, while in Sweden it is delayed until July. The spores are shed throughout the year following fertilization. The dates given for capsule dehiscence in three countries are as follows [24]:
- Sweden: May
- Holland: February to May
- Germany: February to March or March to April
Capsules may persist on stems for at least twelve months after dehiscing [24].
Regeneration Processes
Sexual reproduction: Schreber's big red stem moss is a dioecious, pleurocarpous (producing the sporophytes laterally from short, lateral, specialized branches rather that at the stem tip) moss. The spores are shed 9 to 12 months after fertilization [24]. The period of gametangial (structure containing the gametes) development in Schreber's big red stem moss is approximately 7 months for archegonia (female gametophyte) and 9 months for antheridia (male gametophtye). The timing of gametangial development in spring may be influenced by the duration or severity of the winter [24].
Schreber's big red stem moss capsules.
Schreber's big red stem moss spores.
Vegetative reproduction: Schreber's big red stem moss reproduces vegetatively by branching laterally. The main stems of this moss are perennial and appear to be capable of indefinite growth. There is a growth resting phase in the winter [24].
Successional Status
Obligate Climax Species
Schreber's big red stem moss is very shade tolerant and typically occurs in stable late stages of succession. After the canopy closes, Schreber's big red stem moss will generally form a continuous carpet on the forest floor [5]. Given a shady, humid, high-nutrient environment as is found on the cool, basal slopes of black spruce-white spruce-feather moss stands, Schreber's big red stem moss is a very effective competitor against other species. It can quickly spread over and eliminate other ground cover such as lichens [19].
Immediate Fire Effects
Schreber's big red stem moss is generally killed by fire because it often lacks connection with the substrate [31,32]. Some moss species can survive on burned sites as fragments in the soil [1].
Postfire Regeneration Strategy
- No entry
Fire Adaptations
Schreber's big red stem moss is not well adapted to fire. It typically occurs in wet stands of white or black spruce that have a fire regime of 200 to 400 years [34]. When they do burn, the moss/lichen layer provide the major source of fuels. These fuels take only minutes to reach equilibrium moisture content when the relative humidity changes; therefore, they are very flammable [36].
Plant Response to Fire
Schreber's big red stem moss recovery after fire is very slow [32,34]. It is not until favorable edaphic conditions and a closed or nearly closed canopy is established that Schreber's big red stem moss can spread and form a continuous moss cover. It therefore often takes several decades before Schreber's big red stem moss will recover to prefire densities [32].
Twenty-four years after a fire in a northern Swedish forest, Schreber's big red stem moss was still very rare in the severely burned areas [32]. The percent cover values of Schreber's big red stem moss in a jack pine (Pinus banksiana)-black spruce forest in northeastern Minnesota at different intervals after fire were as follows [1]:
| Years after fire | 1-4 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 80 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cover (%) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 5 |
For information on prescribed fire and postfire response of many plant species, including common liverwort, see Hamilton's Research Papers (Hamilton 2006a, Hamilton 2006b) and this Research Project Summary: Forest floor and plant responses to experimental fires in an Alaskan black spruce/feather moss community.
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name or acronym on the home page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
No entry.
Federal Status
None
Other Status
No entry.
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
No entry.
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
No entry.
Other Uses
In the past, Schreber's big red stem moss was collected and used to block chinks in the walls of homes in Scandinavia. It is still used for chinking log homes in Russia. It was also used for lining fruit and vegetable storage boxes [29].
Schreber's big red stem moss is used as an indicator of heavy metal deposition [11,29]. It is often used in locating pollution sources and determining levels of pollution of heavy metals in the environment. It absorbs metals over its entire surface and is little influenced by variations in substrate mineralization. Close to the source, this moss accumulates high levels of metals [29].
Other Management Considerations
Schreber's big red stem moss is known to efficiently intercept nutrients contained in precipitation and throughfall. It therefore can prevent rapid leaching of nutrients to lower horizons of the soil. In view of its storage capacity, the moss carpet can act as a reservoir in which a large proportion of the potentially available nutrients found in the ecosystem is sequestered. However, it has also been recognized that mechanisms may exist for the transfer of nutrients from the moss carpet to the trees. Mycorrhizal roots of some trees grow in close association with mosses such as Schreber's big red stem moss. Phosphate (32P) and carbon (14C) applied to Schreber's big red stem moss shoots were absorbed by mycorrhizal mycelia and transferred to infected lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) roots and then to their shoots [4].
In 100-year-old stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), artificial acid rain with a pH of 2.5 to 3.0 caused severe damage to Schreber's big red stem moss [27].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES10 White - red - jack pine
- FRES11 Spruce - fir
- FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
- FRES19 Aspen - birch
- FRES20 Douglas-fir
- FRES22 Western white pine
- FRES23 Fir - spruce
- FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
- FRES25 Larch
- FRES26 Lodgepole pine
- FRES44 Alpine
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- 1 Northern Pacific Border
- 2 Cascade Mountains
- 3 Southern Pacific Border
- 4 Sierra Mountains
- 5 Columbia Plateau
- 6 Upper Basin and Range
- 8 Northern Rocky Mountains
- 9 Middle Rocky Mountains
- 11 Southern Rocky Mountains
- 12 Colorado Plateau
- 13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
- 15 Black Hills Uplift
- 16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
- K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
- K003 Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
- K004 Fir - hemlock forest
- K005 Mixed conifer forest
- K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
- K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
- K014 Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
- K015 Western spruce - fir forest
- K020 Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
- K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
- K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
- K094 Conifer bog
- K095 Great Lakes pine forest
- K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
- K097 Southeastern spruce - fir forest
- K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
- K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 1 Jack pine
- 5 Balsam fir
- 12 Black spruce
- 13 Black spruce - tamarack
- 18 Paper birch
- 30 Red spruce - yellow birch
- 31 Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
- 32 Red spruce
- 33 Red spruce - balsam fir
- 34 Red spruce - Fraser fir
- 35 Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
- 37 Northern white-cedar
- 38 Tamarack
- 107 White spruce
- 201 White spruce
- 202 White spruce - paper birch
- 204 Black spruce
- 205 Mountain hemlock
- 206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
- 225 Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
- 226 Coastal true fir - hemlock
- 251 White spruce - aspen
- 253 Black spruce - white spruce
- 254 Black spruce - paper birch
- 256 California mixed subalpine
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry
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