Uncovering hidden diversity in Swedish Bryum (Bryophyta)

The large moss genus Bryum (at least 45 species in Sweden) is common in many habitats throughout Sweden, in particular in the agricultural landscape, in which changing management is a severe threat. Since the traditional taxonomy of the genus is largely based on reproductive characters, mosses found only as non-reproductive
gametophytes can not be identified to species. Non-reproductive gametophytes are strongly overrepresented in nature, hampering our knowledge about frequency, distribution, conservation status and species delimitations. Our aim is to use NGS techniques applied at genomic level (RAD seq followed by SNP marker selection) to investigate the diversity of non-reproductive Bryum populations for comparison against identified (herbarium) material with sporophytes or other reproductive structures during year 3. We will test if there are unknown species reproducing solely by fragmentation and/or if the non-reproductive populations belong to the species traditionally recognized on basis of reproductive characters.