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We have led what is considered to be the very first translocation of an epiphytic moss in Scotland to help save the species.
Aspen Bristle-moss was once thought extinct, and although it was rediscovered at a few sites in Scotland in the early 2000s, it is still very rare.
So when a tree that was holding the largest population of Aspen Bristle-moss in the country fell, it meant that soon a huge portion of this incredible species would be lost.
Our conservation team in the Cairngorms, led by Senior Ecological Advisor Sam Jones, jumped into action and started exploring how they could help save it.
This led to what is believed to be the first-ever documented translocation, where a species is taken from it’s home and moved to a new safe habitat, of an epiphytic moss, which is a moss that grows on a living plant such as a tree, without harming it.
Without intervention, the moss on this tree would die as the bark started to decompose and other species moved in to outcompete it. This meant it was a race against time to save the Aspen Bristle-moss that was on the tree – but it also gave the perfect opportunity to explore whether this technique could be used to help increase the population of the whole species.
We have been working with Aspen Bristle-moss as part of our Resilience and Recovery, Helping Rare Species Adapt to a Changing World project.
Last year, thanks to training we organised to ID the rare moss, numbers at one site where it is found in Scotland, tripled in just one afternoon.
Continuing our work, we wanted to protect the moss on the fallen tree, but also test whether translocation might be a viable method in the future, to help the species recover.
With support from the landowner Wildland and help from a variety of national and international moss experts, we tested 4 experimental methods of translocation across 19 Aspen trees within 2 km of the fallen tree: attaching bark, netting moss, placing it into small drilled holes and wiping fragments directly onto bark.
We will be closely monitoring the site to see which approach works best.
The trial also highlights a wider problem: much of Scotland’s Aspen resource is ageing, and in many places there has been little natural replacement because of grazing pressure.
Even where young Aspen are now returning, it will take decades for those trees to support specialist species such as Aspen Bristle-moss, and it is crucial to protect the scarce mid-aged Aspen trees
We hope the results of this trial will help guide future conservation of rare mosses and Aspen woodland.
Work on this species is funded by NatureScot, the Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Swire Charitable Trust.
With thanks to Simon Dures for the photography and videography.
Senior Ecological Advisor Sam Jones testing different translocation methods.
Multiple methods were trialled.
Tweezers were used to move the tiny parts of the rare moss.
The fallen tree was home to Scotland’s largest population of the rare Aspen Bristle-moss.
It is believed to be the first ever translocation of its kind
This exciting new project will create more possibilities to save Twinflower populations.
Thanks to Training to ID a rare moss species, numbers at one site where it is found in Scotland, tripled in just one afternoon!
In 2003 Aspen Bristle-moss, which was thought to be extinct in the UK, was rediscovered by a chance finding. Now, thanks to a team effort – moss experts, landowners and volunteers discovered 3 times the amount of Aspen Bristle-moss at one site. This brilliant find led to the known population of this rare moss doubling in Scotland in a single afternoon.
This amazing feat was thanks to a training session organised by our Resilience and Recovery, Helping Rare Species Adapt to a Changing World Project Manager, Sam Jones, where volunteers were taught how to ID this marvellous moss.
The elusive epiphyte (a plant which grows on the surface of another plant) is particularly tricky to identify, with tiny features that distinguish it from the other mosses that can be found growing alongside it.
This event, helping uncover hidden populations of Aspen Bristle-moss gives hope for it’s future.
Read on below as Sam explains more about the day and this special species.
We’ve recently started working on a new species in the Cairngorms. Aspen Bristle-moss Nyholmiella gymnostoma, is the first non-vascular plant I’ve worked on.
The Cairngorms is special for supporting some of the UK’s only remaining Aspen Populus tremula woodland. Aspen Bristle-moss is an epiphyte (a plant which grows on the surface of another plant), which as the name suggests, specialises on Aspen. Therefore the only 3 remaining populations of the moss in the UK, are all in or near the Cairngorms National Park.
On 6 November last year, we had our first day looking at Aspen Bristle-moss in Deeside. A total of 12 of us — moss experts, local land managers, and keen volunteers — spent around 4 hours staring very closes through hand lenses at Aspen bark.
Our experts taught us exactly which tiny features to use to distinguish these mosses from all the others we might see on Aspen bark. We learned about the importance of wetting the mosses before trying to identify them.
Then we walked all over the site which is a very rare dense exclusively Aspen woodland covering around 5 hectares. About 20 of these trees were known to support Aspen Bristle Moss, nearly half of the total known UK population. On our sweep we increased the population on site to 49, nearly doubling the total known population in 1 afternoon alone.
This incredible little moss grows exclusively on Aspen trees, and is only known to exist at three sites in the UK – all in the Cairngorms area of Scotland.
It seemed a logical choice to focus on such an understudied local specialist species. While working to protect this moss, we are also hunting for and protecting other rare Aspen epiphytes, such as Blunt-leaved Bristle-moss Nyholmiella obtusifolia, Showy Bristle-moss Lewinskya speciosa, and Bark Sulphur Fire-dot Lichen Caloplaca flavorubescens.
We are early in our journey towards protecting these species. Alongside preserving and enhancing Aspen woodland, work led by the Cairngorms National Park and Trees for Life, we are focused on learning the status of these species, and what we can do to protect them.
The first step for Aspen Bristle-moss (and all these under-studied epiphytes) is to update our records.
In 2000 it was thought to be extinct in the UK but has since been rediscovered at 3 sites. It takes quite the specialism to record it, and so there is a good chance some populations remain undiscovered. So, our first objective is to re-survey the 3 known populations, and to get people out and looking for it across Aspen woods more widely.
This year we’ll be surveying the other 2 populations, getting more people trained up to look for and appreciate these rare species, and developing a better idea for how it is doing. We’ll also be encouraging trained volunteers to check Aspen trees whenever they can, as it is very possible many sites remain undiscovered.
As our understanding of these species expands, we may start to look at what can be done to protect these tiny remnant populations. Obviously, we must continue to promote and protect Aspen woodlands. We also may look into transplanting mosses between trees or assisting their colonisation into new sites.
We will have to see what develops as we work to protect and promote these often-overlooked tiny green gems.
We conducted these surveys on NatureScot sites, and would like to thank them for supporting this project.
Photos taken by Gus Routledge.
The effort Greena Moor Nature Reserve management team put in place to save the Three-lobed Water Crowfoot.
Discover 4 new walk ideas and Scottish spring adventure inspiration from Plantlife Scotland’s Communications and Policy Officer, Erin Shott.
Air pollution often poses the biggest danger to internationally rare habitats and nitrogen gases have the potential to destroy our temperate rainforests.
In 2022 Lizzie Wilberforce took up the challenge of trying to learn some of Britain’s most common moss and liverwort species, near her home in damp, mossy west Wales.
‘Inspired by Lief Bersweden’s Couch to 10 Mosses on Twitter, I decided to give it a go and independently teach myself some mosses and liverworts out on my walks.
I have always been interested in identifying plants, even as a child. As an adult, I’m now able to identify most common species on my patch, but still with a huge amount still to learn. Bryophytes, known as mosses and liverworts, were even more of a mystery to me.
I’d always appreciated the aesthetics of their soft cloaks of green that envelop damp woodland, and the sheer resilience of the small, tufty species eking out a living in the harsh conditions of our sun-baked stone walls.
Naming them, however, always felt like an art that was out of my reach.
The first step is to spot just 1 or 2 interesting but abundant species when out for a walk, and to then bring home a very small piece of them to ‘key out’ – using an ID guide to identify the species.
Here are some tips which have helped me, for when you’ve spotted your first moss species.
Don’t be intimidated! Mosses and liverworts have a bit of a reputation for being tricky, but it’s great fun when you get into it. Looking a bit closer through a hand lens also reveals whole new levels of intricacy and beauty in these glorious plants.
These 2 publications have been incredibly helpful as ID guides: the British Bryological Society’s ‘Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland’ has been my go-to book for keying samples out, and of course a hand lens is vital.
I’ve also found that the Species Recovery Trust’s booklet ‘A Field Guide to Bryophytes’ has been helpful for quickly spotting some of the most common species I was likely to encounter based on habitat.
Going wrong and getting stuck has been an inevitable part of being a beginner. I’ve found that the Google Lens mobile phone app – whilst it does a poor job of species identification, can sometimes do enough to point me in a new direction if I’ve gone wrong early in the key.
A guidebook will take you to the right species, but it won’t always tell you which one or two features are the easiest to spot in the field – an expert will help you learn that shortcut much more quickly.
My county recorder, Sam Bosanquet, has been incredibly patient and helpful. Your local county recorder could have access to distribution maps such as Sam’s Carmarthenshire County Flora, which are a good sense check – find your county recorder here.
I’ve also recently joined the British Bryological Society, which gives me access to supportive recording groups and events.
I’ve also had to accept that my learning is seasonal – but one of the great things about mosses and liverworts is that it has provided me with new things to do in the tail ends of the year.
Sometimes it’s felt like one step forward and two steps back, with long names and complex features that I struggle to keep in my brain. However, embracing it as a slow process has meant it’s always stayed fun.
I’m gradually getting better at recognising some of the commoner species in the field, and every now and then, I’m even filling in a gap on the distribution maps – which help protect these species for the future.
Bryophytes desperately need more advocates and recorders. So, if you’ve ever thought about giving it a go, but thought them a bit intimidating- don’t! Set yourself a target of 10 and give it a go. Who knows where it’ll take you next?‘
Thuidium tamariscinum has a name that is a little tricky to commit to memory, but its wonderful complex fern-like structure is very distinctive. It’s abundant in my local woodlands and hedge banks, and is one of the first mosses I learned to recognise in the field.
Plagiochila asplenioides, a large leafy liverwort that was one of the first to catch my attention on local road verges.
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