By Lauren Divine, contributing writer.
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Have you ever walked around a bog early in the morning on a day when the sun is beaming down, warming up and drying the ground? Did you take some time to quietly sit down and listen to the noise of the land and the organisms that inhabit it? It’s easy to hear the chirps and grumble of mating frogs or the screech of birds hunting overhead. It is even easy to hear the rustling of leaves dancing in the wind but have you ever heard
quiet little pops and wondered what animal that could be coming from. Thoughrarely heard, these pops are the sounds made from sphagnum, a type of moss specifically evolved for bog habitats.
The popping sound of sphagnum results from the operculum being forced off the capsule in the drying air to allow for spore dispersal. When sexually mature, all species of moss grows a vertical sporophyte (the featureof moss that is responsible for most reproduction, similar to flowers in vascular plants) with a capsule or small container that holds the spores on top. The capsule is covered by the operculum that, in the case of sphagnum, is pushed off and goes flying when the conditions are optimal for spore dispersal.
Being so small, mosses have a major disadvantage when competing in the world. The entire organism is stuck in a boundary layer, or a layer of air around the plant that is completely still. For optimal reproductive success, a plant species must have high dispersal distances, or a high travel area by the spores. If spores aren’t able to escape the boundary area, they will not be dispersed by the wind. Having the sporophyte being the tallest structure on the moss increases the chances of dispersal. The structure covering the capsule, the operculum, is only removed in dry air when spores weigh the least and again, have a higher chance of a slight wind taking them away. In the case of sphagnum, the dry air allows the operculum to jet off, pushing spores out into the turbulent air as well.
Living in a boundary layer isn’t just a challenge for moss it also has many advantages. Moss experience higher temperatures, moisture levels, and carbon dioxidebecause they are not exposed to wind. All which help moss thrive in hostile environments where there may not be much water or low temperatures.
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Have you ever walked around a bog early in the morning on a day when the sun is beaming down, warming up and drying the ground? Did you take some time to quietly sit down and listen to the noise of the land and the organisms that inhabit it? It’s easy to hear the chirps and grumble of mating frogs or the screech of birds hunting overhead. It is even easy to hear the rustling of leaves dancing in the wind but have you ever heard
quiet little pops and wondered what animal that could be coming from. Thoughrarely heard, these pops are the sounds made from sphagnum, a type of moss specifically evolved for bog habitats.
The popping sound of sphagnum results from the operculum being forced off the capsule in the drying air to allow for spore dispersal. When sexually mature, all species of moss grows a vertical sporophyte (the featureof moss that is responsible for most reproduction, similar to flowers in vascular plants) with a capsule or small container that holds the spores on top. The capsule is covered by the operculum that, in the case of sphagnum, is pushed off and goes flying when the conditions are optimal for spore dispersal.
Being so small, mosses have a major disadvantage when competing in the world. The entire organism is stuck in a boundary layer, or a layer of air around the plant that is completely still. For optimal reproductive success, a plant species must have high dispersal distances, or a high travel area by the spores. If spores aren’t able to escape the boundary area, they will not be dispersed by the wind. Having the sporophyte being the tallest structure on the moss increases the chances of dispersal. The structure covering the capsule, the operculum, is only removed in dry air when spores weigh the least and again, have a higher chance of a slight wind taking them away. In the case of sphagnum, the dry air allows the operculum to jet off, pushing spores out into the turbulent air as well.
Living in a boundary layer isn’t just a challenge for moss it also has many advantages. Moss experience higher temperatures, moisture levels, and carbon dioxidebecause they are not exposed to wind. All which help moss thrive in hostile environments where there may not be much water or low temperatures.
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