Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

The moss flora of base-rich springs is very distinctive, with carpets and hummocks
of vivid greens, yellows and deep browns comprising species such as Palustriella
commutata, Campylium stellatum and Scorpidium scorpioides.
Overall, mosses and liverworts (collectively known as bryophytes) are a critical
part of fen vegetation. They help define the character of fen vegetation and may
also inform its conservation significance. Some species-groups, such as the
bog-mosses (Sphagna) of more acidic fens, also play a key role in determining
successional development and may dictate the range of niches available to other
wetland plants and animals. Despite this ecological significance, the mosses and
liverworts of most British fens are generally under recorded.
The fens of Britain and Ireland support many vulnerable and declining bryophytes,
such as fen notchwort Leiocolea rutheana and marsh flapwort Jamesoniella
undulifolia. Relatively few of these species are considered of European
significance because of the relative abundance of wetlands in northern Europe, but
as a result of habitat loss and widespread nutrient enrichment in temperate Europe,
fen mosses and liverworts are threatened in many countries.
Insectivorous common
butterwort in a lownutrient
base-rich flush
(I. Diack).
Marsh saxifrage,
restricted to small, base
rich fens in the uplands
(M. Wright)
‘Brown’ mosses –
Scorpidium scorpioides
and Campylium stellatum
in a base-rich flush at
Glenuig, Argyll (I. Diack).
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