Buxbaumia viridis leaflet - Plantlife

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Buxbaumia viridis - Status and world distributionIn the United Kingdom, Buxbaumia viridis is rated as Endangered in thebryophyte Red Data Book (Church et al., 2001), has a Biodiversity Action Planand is listed on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. TheEndangered threat category means that the plant is deemed to be at a very highrisk of extinction in the wild because of its small range and patchy distribution andthe small number of plants in total.Buxbaumia viridis has a scattered distribution in montane and boreal habitatsacross the northern hemisphere from south-west Asia and China to westernNorth America. It is a species of conservation concern in North America but itsstatus in Asia is not known. It is sparsely distributed across Europe and appearson the Red List of most countries where it occurs. The European Committee forthe Conservation of Bryophytes rates Buxbaumia viridis as Vulnerable in Europeand it is listed in Annex II of the EC Habitats and Species Directive and onAppendix 1 of the Council of Europe Bern Convention.Its status on European Annex II theoretically means that Buxbaumia viridis is a“plant species of Community interest whose conservation requires thedesignation of Special Areas of Conservation”. Its listing on Schedule 8 meansthat “it is an offence (subject to exceptions) to pick, uproot, trade in, or possess(for the purposes of trade) Buxbaumia viridis without a licence.” So, please donot collect Buxbaumia viridis. If you want verification a digital photo is usuallyideal.History of recording and current UK distributionAll the UK records for Buxbaumia viridis are in the north and east of Scotland,extending from East Ross in the north and, historically, to Arbroath in Angus inthe south. There are two concentrations of recent records, one in the glens westof Inverness and the other on Speyside. It seems likely that some other sitesfurther west will be found but Buxbaumia viridis is a boreal-montane species,presumably not suited to the wetter, milder west. It has never been seen insouthern Britain and all of the more southerly sites in Europe are associated withthe mountains.Buxbaumia viridis was first recognised in the UK (as B. indusiata) fromBalnagowan near Tain in East Rossshire in March 1867 from a collection by MrsClarke. However, the announcement of this discovery prompted Prof. G Dickie tore-examine plants in his herbarium, sent to him by Mr A Cruickshank (asBuxbaumia aphylla), collected from “a dense fir wood at Pannanich, nearBallater” in July 1847 (Dickie, 1867a). These also proved to be Buxbaumiaviridis. Presumably inspired by this, Dickie revisited Deeside accompanied byJohn Roy and found Buxbaumia viridis on Craigendinnie Hill above Aboyne inJune 1867 (Dickie, 1867b) and collected it here again in both 1869 and 1870.There are also two enigmatic literature records from this period, one from a “Ben
Hearag” in Strath Glass (a hill which does not seem to be mapped), published byBuchanan White (White, 1870) and Buxbaumia viridis appears in a list ofcryptogams from Loch Lomond published by Stirton (Stirton, 1876). Some 20years after the first records, Buxbaumia viridis was found much further south, inEthie Woods near Arbroath by W Smith in 1887and this is still the most southerlyrecord.After this the plant was seemingly lost until 1951 when it was found by FrancisRose on Alvie Estate near Aviemore on Speyside. The link with current sites forthe species starts in 1961 when Noel Pritchard found Buxbaumia viridis in ReeligGlen close to Moniack by Beauly and he continued to visit this site and see theplant in most years until 1970. It was not seen again here until 1993 when theauthor was contracted by SNH to look for the plant in Reelig Glen (Rothero,1993). In 1999 SNH employed the author to look at the phenology of Buxbaumiaviridis at Reelig (Rothero, 1999) and experience gained during this work leddirectly to the discovery of a number of other sites in the next two years, notablyon Rothiemurchus and Abernethy Estates on Speyside. As most of these findswere made in company with other people, knowledge of and enthusiasm for theplant spread (a little) and, inevitably, other discoveries have followed.09Key to symbols1950 onwardPre 1950'8760 1 2 3 4 5By far the greatest concentration of stands is now on the RSPB’s AbernethyEstate where, following the initial finds by the author and Andy Amphlett (RSPB),Stewart Taylor (RSPB) has enthusiastically pursued the plant and has nowaccumulated records from some 30 stands. Buxbaumia viridis has been found inseveral places close together near Bridge of Brown and once further downSpeyside, near Dufftown, while further west, Stewart Taylor found a population inGlen Tromie. Sandy Payne (SNH ret.) has found several stands near SouthClunes above Moniack and there is a record from Ruttle Wood near the RiverBeauly; further north, Dave Genney (SNH) found a good stand on a log nearRogie Falls, the first record for Ross-shire since 1867. The plant was againfound on Deeside after an absence of over 130 years by the Tullich Burn near
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Page 14: ReferencesDickie, G (1867a). Note o

Buxbaumia viridis leaflet - Plantlife

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