New national and regional bryophyte records, 82

Abstract

1. Aongstroemia longipes (Sommerf.) Bruch & Schimp. Contributors. M. Infante Sanchez, ́ P. Heras Perez, ́ N. Sauter and L. Olicard France. Department of Hautes-Pyrené es, ́ Gavarnie, deglaciated areas under the glacier of Pic Taillon, 42.6978773°N, 0.0372557°W, 2577 m a.s.l., on sediments over calcareous substrate, 7 September 2024, leg. N. Sauter and L. Olicard (BBF-bryo-s/n). This is the first record in the French Pyrenees of this pioneer Holarctic species. Until now the only known populations in France were in the French Alps (in the Savoie and Hautes-Alpes departments) (Legland and Garraud 2018; Celle et al. 2024). The presence of Aongstroemia longipes in the Spanish Pyrenees has also recently been detected in wet loamy soils in clogged lakes and in the vicinity of snowfields, at altitudes between 1987 and 2238 m, on calcareous substrates (Hernanz Aragoń et al. 2025). The French Pyrenean population is found in a somewhat different habitat, in an area previously part of the Taillon Peak glacier that became deglaciated between 1948 − 1985. The site is north-facing, but shares the calcareous substrate and silty soil with little vegetation cover, due to frequent run-off between boulders and rocky blocks. Aongstroemia longipes grows here alongside other bryophytes such as Barbula unguiculata Hedw., Ptychostomum imbricatulum (Müll.Hal.) Holyoak & N.Pedersen and Calcidicranella cf. varia (Hedw.) Bonfim Santos, Fedosov & Jan Kučera, in an environment where the vegetation includes Salix retusa L., S. reticulata L. and Doronicum grandiflorum Lam. The Pyrenean populations mark the southern latitudinal limit of the species’ distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, and so might be particularly vulnerable to global climate change.