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Bulletin of Botanical Research ›› 1983, Vol. 3 ›› Issue (4): 118-131.

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BRYOPHYTES OF NORTH KOREA

Gao Chien, Chang Kuang-chu   

  1. Institute of Forestry and Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Science, Shenyang, Liaoning
  • Online:1983-12-15 Published:2016-06-13

Abstract: In 1979, K. C. Chang visited North Korea, and from Chang's collections and those made by V. F. Brotherus, Y.Horikawa, A. Noguchi and T. Osada, we were able to make a rather complete list of bryophytes from North Korea which we hope will help to fill the gap in our knowledge of the bryophytes of this region. The bryophytes of North Korea include 61 families, 145 genera, 260 species, 2 subspecies, 6 varieties and 1 from. Among them, 126 species are recorded as new to flora of North Korea. Geographic Distribution and Floristic Analysis of Bryo-phyta in North Korea. A) The main floristic elements are as follows:1) Holarctic element……172 spp. (64%):Sphagnum spp., Amblystegium serpens, Bazzonia tricrenata, Conocephalum conicum, etc. The abundance of species of the Holarctic element on North Korea is remarkable. 2) East Asian……64 spp. (24%):Bryonoguchia molkenboeri, Mnium spp., Jubula japonica*, Macvicraria ulophylla*, Fauriella tenuis*, Taxiphyllum aomoriense, and many others belong here.The species marked with an asterisk occur in North Korea, China and Japan. 3) Tropical and subtropical……3 spp. (1.1%):Metzgeria consanguinea occur only in Korea, Japan, New Guinea, Java, Burma, and Thuidiun cymbifolium, Chaetomitriopsis glaucocarpa only in tropical and subtropical regions. 4) Endemic in North Korea……2 spp. (0.7%):This seemslimitid to only two species and one variety, Pylaisiella coreana, Philonotis coreensis and Gollania neckerella var. coreensis. 5) Cosmopolitan……28 spp.(10.2%). B) Among the bryophyta of North Korea the families which include the most genera and species are:Polytrichaceae, 4 gen. 14 spp.; Dicranaceae, 10 gen. 20 spp.; Mniaceae, 4 gen.15 spp.; Hypnaceae, 8 gen. 19 spp.; Lophoziaceae, 4 gen. 6 spp.;Jungermanniaceae, 4 gen. 4 spp.; and scapaniaceae, 3 gen. 5 spp.Altogether there are 11 major large families including 63 genera and 138 species, accounting for 43.5% of the genera and 52% of the species, of this area. Except a few east Asian and endemic species, most of them are species which are widely distributed in the Holarctic and the temperate zones. C) The existence of many genera and species common to Northeast China and Japan shows that there might be close paleogeographic and paleoclimiatic relationships with these re-gions, as evidenced by the occurrence and distribution of Bryophyta. Only in modern times have geographic and clima-tic barriers taken shape. D. No endemic families and genera have been found in this area, indicating that North Korea is not an independent climatic district nor has it been geologically segregated. Ra-ther, it belongs to the eastern Asian subregion of the Holarc-tic plant zone.