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The Importance
The PurposeThe purpose of this project is to evaluate how overall species composition of bryophytes differs spatially from the top of the tree canopy down to the forest floor and from the interior forest out to the oceans edge. The BMSC’s Public Education Program provides a unique opportunity for this initial assessment to become the baseline for a continuing monitoring program, which would be the first of its kind in coastal temperate rainforest ecosystems to our knowledge. This monitoring approach will enable future researchers to assess the rate of change in bryophyte diversity and thereby provide an important “early warning” indication of the degree of biological response to disturbances such as climate change. The ProcessThe location of the sampling sites close to the BMSC is ideal, as changes in temperature and precipitation are being recorded in great detail and hence can provide an ideal reference point for future monitoring. The existence of the canopy access system at the BMSC provides us with the unique opportunity to survey bryophytes in an ecosystem that is understudied due to its inaccessibility. The results of the survey are made public via the BMSC webpage, which can then be used by the Station’s well established public education program. |
Last updated: 07-Aug-2008 10:33 AM
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