Comparing the responses of bryophytes and short-statured vascular plants to climate shifts and eutrophication

Few experimental studies have tested how abundance and diversity of grassland bryophytes respond to global environmental changes such as climate shifts and eutrophication. Because bryophytes in grasslands are low-statured, and because plant height is a key functional trait governing plant responses to resource gradients, their responses to these factors could resemble those of better-studied small vascular plants. Alternatively, traits unique to bryophytes could lead to qualitatively different responses than those of small vascular plants. In a semi-arid Californian grassland system, where bryophytes are at relatively low abundance and their ecology has been little studied, we compared changes in cover and species richness of bryophytes and short-statured vascular plants in response to 5 years of experimental fertilization, springtime watering and fertilization + watering, which produced strong gradients in vascular plant biomass. Supporting our hypotheses, the cover and richness of b...