Bryology (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, a moss, a liverwort) is the branch of

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

concerned with the scientific study of

bryophyte Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...

s (

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es,

liverworts Liverworts are a group of non-vascular plant, non-vascular embryophyte, land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in wh ...

, and

hornwort Hornworts are a group of non-vascular Embryophytes (land plants) constituting the division Anthocerotophyta (). The common name refers to the elongated horn-like structure, which is the sporophyte. As in mosses and liverworts, hornworts have a ...

s). Bryologists are botanists who have an active interest in observing, recording, classifying or researching bryophytes. The field is often studied along with

lichenology Lichenology is the branch of mycology that studies the lichens, symbiotic organisms made up of an intimate symbiotic association of a microscopic alga (or a cyanobacterium) with a Hypha, filamentous fungus. Lichens are chiefly characterized by th ...

due to the similar appearance and

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

niche of the two organisms, even though bryophytes and lichens are not classified in the same kingdom. Bryophyte 1

History

Bryophytes were first studied in detail in the 18th century. In 1717 the German botanist

Johann Jacob Dillenius Johann Jacob Dillen Dillenius (1684 – 2 April 1747) was a German botanist. He is known for his ''Hortus Elthamensis'' ("Eltham Garden") on the rare plants around Eltham, London, and for his ''Historia muscorum'' ("History of Mosses"), a natu ...

(1687–1747), later Sherardian Professor of Botany at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

from 1734 to 1747, produced the work "Reproduction of the

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s and mosses". The beginning of bryology really belongs to the work of Transylvanian-born Johannes Hedwig (1730–1799), sometimes called the "father of bryology", who clarified the reproductive system of mosses in 1782 in his ''Fundamentum historiae naturalis muscorum frondosorum'' and arranged a

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

Research

Areas of research include bryophyte

, bryophytes as

bioindicator A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...

DNA sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The ...

, and the interdependency of bryophytes and other plant, fungal and animal species. Among other things, scientists have discovered parasitic ( mycoheterotrophic) bryophytes such as '' Aneura mirabilis'' (previously known as ''Cryptothallus mirabilis'') and potentially carnivorous liverworts such as '' Colura zoophaga'' and '' Pleurozia''. Centers of research in bryology include the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

in Germany, the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

in Finland and the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

Journals

'' The Bryologist'' a scientific journal began publication in 1898, and includes articles on all aspects of the biology of mosses, hornworts, liverworts and lichens and also book reviews. It is published by ''The American Bryological and Lichenological Society''. The scientific ''Journal of Bryology'', renamed in 1972 from its original name of ''Transactions of the British Bryological Society'' that commenced in 1947, is published by the British Bryological Society.

Recognized bryologists

Miles Joseph Berkeley Miles Joseph Berkeley (1 April 1803 – 30 July 1889) was an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology. Life Berkeley was born at Biggin Hall, Benefield, Northamptonshire, and educated at ...

(1803–1889) *

Elizabeth Gertrude Britton Elizabeth Gertrude Britton (née Knight) (January 9, 1858 – February 25, 1934) was an American botanist, bryologist, and educator. She and her husband, Nathaniel Lord Britton, played a significant role in the fundraising and creation of the New ...

(1858–1934) *

Margaret Sibella Brown Margaret Sibella Brown (March 2, 1866November 16, 1961) was a Canadian amateur bryologist specializing in mosses and liverworts native to Nova Scotia. Early in her career she was involved with gathering supplies of sphagnum moss to be used as s ...

(1866–1961) * Agnes Fry (1869–1957/8) * Heinrich Christian Funck (1771–1839) *

Robert Kaye Greville Dr. Robert Kaye Greville FRSE FLS LLD (13 December 1794 – 4 June 1866) was an England, English mycologist, bryology, bryologist, and botanist. He was an accomplished artist and illustrator of natural history. In addition to art and scien ...

(1794–1866) * Wilhelm Theodor Gümbel (1812–1858) * Inez M. Haring (1875–1968) * Hiroshi Inoue (1932–1989) * Kathleen King (1893–1978) * Aaron John Sharp (1904–1997) * Mary S. Taylor (1885–1976) * Frances Elizabeth Tripp (1832–1890) * Carl Friedrich Warnstorf (1837–1921) * Noris Salazar Allen (b. 1947)

References

Literature

* Meylania, ''Zeitschrift für Bryologie und Lichenologie'' * Limprichtia, ''Zeitschrift der Bryologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutschlands''

External links

*
Bryologie at the University of Bonn
*
International Association of BryologistsAmerican Bryological and Lichenological SocietyBritish Bryological Society
{{Authority control Branches of botany *