The mountain and high-mountain bryophyte vegetation of the Pollino National Park (Southern Italy): syntaxonomy and ecology

A phytosociological study on the bryophyte vegetation of the Pollino Nature Park (Southern Italy) was carried out. It includes 12 communities of sun-exposed and shady rock sites, tree bases and roots and tree trunks, four of them, the Cirriphylletum vaucheri, the Orthotrichetum fallacis, the Orthotrichetum rupestris, and the Pseudoleskeetum incurvatae, reported for the first time from Italy. In addition, structure, floristic composition, synecology, synhierarchy and chorology of the associations were discussed. Life syndromes and human impact give a first hint to some key functions, adaptive traits and environmental quality that enables us to better understand the ecological constraints (habitat maintenance, establishment and dispersal) on a higher level of abstraction.