THE GENUS SCHISTIDIUM (GRIMMIACEAE, MUSCI) IN HUNGARY ...

86 ERZBERGER, P. and SCHRÖDER, W.
new locations, and maybe even new taxa. It would also be necessary to
re-visit the sites of old records and check if the species are still there. Some
future field research should also aim at population dynamics, not only of
rare or less frequent species, but also of species of intermediate frequency
viz. S. elegantulum and S. helveticum, because we do not yet understand,
why they are not much more widespread, given the many additional potential
growth sites in the calcareous parts of Hungary. Thus S. elegantulum
has most of its records in the Bükk Mts, but strikingly few in the other limestone
and dolomite areas, none at all in the Pilis Mts. Does this reflect a
preference for limestone vs. dolomite, or are there climatic reasons, or is it
just an artefact of insufficient mapping? Similarly, it is not clear, why S. helveticum
has not (yet?) been found in the Bakony Mts or the Balaton Uplands.
Many of the Schistidium growth sites mapped during this revision lie
already in protected areas like the Bükk National park, the Aggtelek National
Park and the Duna–Ipoly National Park.
However, since this protected status does not prevent the sometimes
negative consequences to habitat quality of forestry management,
it is important to make the localities of important populations known to
the authorities concerned. In this context, we would like to draw attention
to the sites of S. flaccidum (Bükk Mts, Visegrád Mts) and the two only sites
of S. confertum (Mátra and Börzöny Mts). The status of S. confertum is uncertain.
A short search at the surroundings of Holló-kõ (Börzsöny Mts) by
the first author was unsuccessful; no search has been made at Disznó-kõ
(Mátra Mts) for this species.
It is hoped that this survey of Schistidium in Hungary, where this genus
is well represented, has outlined some of its interesting taxonomic, floristical
and ecological features, and that it will help and stimulate future research.
* * *
Acknowledgements – The authors are grateful to Dr H. H. Blom for examining a critical
specimen, to the curators and directors of the public herbaria and the owners of private
herbaria mentioned in the Introduction for the loan of specimens, to Dr L. Lõkös for the
preparation of maps, to PD Dr H. Kürschner for the opportunity to use a Leitz drawing apparatus,
to R. McF. Craig for correcting the English and to Mag. H. Köckinger for helpful
comments. Special thanks are due to Prof. emer. Dr T. Pócs for his genuine interest in this
work and his active participation in the search for interesting potential growth sites of
Schistidium in the Bükk Mts.
Studia bot. hung. 39, 2008