Abstract
The composition of bryophyte (moss, liverwort, and hornwort) communities is influenced by patterns of dispersal and establishment. Among the effects of landscape fragmentation are increased habitat isolation that may slow dispersal and increased proportion of habitat edges that may experience altered environmental conditions that affect dispersal and establishment rates. In New York State, northern white cedar-swamps are rich remnant habitats where bryophytes are conspicuous components of the flora. I examined the bryophyte communities and habitat variables 10 m, 40 m, 70 m, and 100 m from the edge at four sites with an upland forest buffer and four sites without a buffer among four northern white-cedar swamps. The buffered sites served as a comparison for the non-buffered sites exposed to the full edge effect. I observed differences in bryophyte cover, taxonomic richness, and community structure among the four gradient communities at the non-buffered sites, but not the buffered sites. The results indicated the presence of the influence of an edge effect on the bryophyte communities nearest the swamp edge, but may extend to 100 m. I also examined the composition of the diaspore rain and diaspore bank in comparison to the extant community at the edge (10 m) and interior (100 m) at three sites in Fabius Swamp. I examined the diaspore bank using soil samples incubated in culture containers in a greenhouse for 6 months. I examined the diaspore rain using traps exposed to ambient diaspore rain July to October, covered and placed in a greenhouse for 6 months. Community composition differed between the edge and interior for the extant and both of the diaspore communities, though richness only differed among the extant and diaspore bank communities. Growth form and life form were more important than environmental variables in explaining differences among the extant, bank, and rain communities. Based on the community composition of 126 community plots, I added 140 taxa to the documented bryoflora of New York State NWCS for a total of 209 bryophyte taxa.