The Mosses of Barro Colorado Island

Ninety-two species of mosses in 23 families are reported for Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. Most species grow in the understory with some reaching the upper trunks and tree crowns. Mosses grow on the bark of trees, shrubs, and lianas as well as on palm roots, rocks, and less often soil. Most BCI moss species have creeping stems and branches, whereas some have upright stems and form tight or loose turfs and a few have a dendroid habit growing perpendicular to or pendent from trunks. A majority (56) of BCI species have Neotropical distribution, 14 have ranges that span the Americas and Africa, 19 are pantropical, 2 are cosmopolitan, and 1 is widely distributed in the Neotropics, Africa, and Europe. The BCI moss flora can be compared with inventories at five other lowland and mid-elevation forests in Panama: it shares 33–52 moss species with each of these sites.