An abundance of moss

There is a feeling of spring in the air. The woods are suddenly full of birdsong – song thrushes, mistle thrushes, robins, chaffinches, various tits and even a blackbird today. The ditch is full of frogspawn and croaking frogs. However, it’s still early and the woods remain in winter mode. Much of the vegetation has died back or lost its leaves over winter, but not the mosses. They provide greenery all year round and in winter it becomes very apparent just how abundant and diverse they are.

In the ancient woodland remnants of Comar Wood moss covers almost every surface. In areas with more light there are grasses, but moss is also there underneath. In the spruce stands moss carpets the ground wherever there is the slightest opening in the canopy and in some places also cloaks the lower branches of the trees. Moss grows on the ground, on rocks and on trees both alive and dead. It’s only when you start looking at moss that you realise quite how much of it there is in the wood. At first glance the moss just looks like a thick green carpet, but closer inspection reveals that the carpet consists of many different types of moss. Each species has its own intricate shape and shade of green, making them fascinating to look at close-up.

Carpet of moss in Comar Wood

Some of the plants that look like moss may actually be liverworts (the difference seems to be quite technical so I’m not going to try and explain it). Mosses and liverworts are collectively known as bryophytes. They are simple, primitive plants that are non-vascular, meaning they absorb water and minerals directly into their leaves.

Bryophytes are particularly abundant in the woodlands of the Atlantic west coasts of Britain and Ireland (known as temperate rainforest) because the high rainfall, mild winters and tree canopy shading provide them with ideal growing conditions. Comar Wood is about 30 miles from the west coast. It experiences less rainfall and slightly colder winters than woodlands on the coast. However, on a continental scale it is still an Atlantic climate and demonstrably still a great place for moss to thrive.

Different species of moss and liverwort have different habitat requirements. Some prefer to grow on the woodland floor, some on tree trunks and some on boulders. They are sensitive to the chemistry of the surface they grow on so the local geology can affect the types of species present. The chemistry of tree bark is also important in determining which species of moss/ liverwort grow on which species of tree. Some tree species have acidic bark (e.g. oak, birch and alder), while others have a more base rich bark (e.g. hazel, aspen and rowan).

Here are some pictures of different bryophytes that I have found in Comar Wood. Whilst I would be very interested to identify the species of moss present in our wood, it isn’t something I’ve had much time to look into yet. I have had a guess with some of them but if you happen to know what they are then please tell me!

Mosses on the ground

Mosses on the ground are dominated by a few species. They create thick mats covering boulders and extending up the bases of tree trunks.
Mosses covering boulders and a fallen tree trunk on the edge of the spruce plantation.
Moss taking advantage of a small gap in the spruce canopy, colonising a fallen birch and cloaking the lower branches of the surrounding spruce trees.
This is a wetter bit of ground under a canopy of smaller spruce trees and has a different selection of mosses.

Mosses on trees

This is a typical type of moss found on birch trees in Comar Wood
Close-up of mosses and lichens on birch bark.
Mosses (or are these liverworts?) on a rowan tree – these are different to the types found on birch due to the different bark chemistry.
Moss (or liverwort) on aspen in trees in Comar Wood, which seem to be similar to those on the rowan, although on some of the aspen they have grown very bushy as shown here.
A close-up of the type of moss that cloaks the spruce branches, trailing down off them.

Bog mosses

Sphagnum mosses can be found in open boggy areas of the wood. Some have striking red and orange colours.
This deep red moss might be Sphagnum capillifolium
My best guess for this pretty bog moss is Blunt-leaved Bog-moss (Sphagnum palustre)

Moss close-ups

This hummock of moss shows several of the mosses commonly found on the woodland floor including Glittering Wood-moss (Hylocomium splendens), one that might be Little Shaggy-moss (Rhytidiadelphus loreus) and one that might be Common Haircap (Polytrichum commune).
The moss on the right is a less common moss in Comar Wood, possibly waved silk moss (Plagiothecium undulatum).
I think this is some sort of liverwort, growing in a very wet area.
I think this could be Little Shaggy-moss (Rhytidiadelphus loreus). It is a pretty common one in the wood.
Another common woodland floor moss, here just a bright green clump amongst brown spruce trunks and needles, possibly Greater Fork-moss (Dicranum majus).
And finally another close-up with at least three different mosses growing on a fallen tree trunk. I think the tall one might be Common Haircap (Polytrichum commune), the more gold one is Glittering Wood-moss (Hylocomium splendens), not sure about the others.

Soon enough the grasses, ferns and spring flowers will be bursting forth, but I have appreciated the greenery of the mosses over the winter months.