Mossy World

Today’s post features a guest author. Jeanne wrote Mossy World for the Elm Fork Master Naturalist’s December newsletter. So I thought that y’all might enjoy it as much as I did. All the great photos are Jeanne’s as well.

Imagine a walk in the woods or among rocks and boulders or meandering ravines without their evergreen blanket of mosses. Now add them back. So much better.

Mosses are tiny, primitive land plants – they have no flowers, fruits, seeds or roots. They are low in stature, forming crusts in arid areas, lush green carpets in wetter areas. Their leaves are only one cell thick. They have the incredible ability to withstand desiccation for years and revive with the addition of water.

Mosses exist on all continents – even Antarctica – and on a wide variety of substrates – trees, logs, soil, rock, litter and animal carcasses as well as man-made materials. They occur in deep forests, open prairies, arid deserts, from deep shade to full sun exposure. Few animals or insects eat them.

People can see that mosses are beautiful and soft and comforting too, but also ask – what good are mosses? Some of the answers are as subtle as the beauty of mosses themselves.

Most mosses are perennial and green all year. They are some of the first colonizers of bare areas – in prairies, forests, deserts, tundra, along the sides and edges of gullies and ravines, slopes and cliffs, hiking trails and road cuts. They can grow where other plants cannot. They catch tiny wind-and-water borne particles, both organic and inorganic, and in doing so, build and hold soil, and thus slow erosion.

Mosses provide soft landings for fern and lichen spores and grass and forb seeds to settle and take hold. Their ability to capture, hold and slowly release moisture enhances the growth of these new vascular plants. Mats of moss help keep soil cooler as well as enhance the work of the fungi below by holding in moisture. In wet areas, they can absorb up to half the rain that falls, releasing it back slowly over time and thus buffering temperature and humidity conditions.

Mosses serve as nurseries and shelter for a vast array of micro-organisms and invertebrates, including aphids, nematodes, rotifers, tardigrades, larval insects and slugs, which in turn support larger wildlife up the food chain. Some birds (like chickadees and vireos) use mosses in nest building. Without mosses, there would be no peat for potting soil or sphagnum to line hanging baskets or to enhance bonsai gardening.

Without mosses the world have much less beauty and wonder and intrigue. Mosses have much to teach about seeing and understanding and experiencing at a slower pace and a smaller scale. Learning about mosses may seem daunting at first, but the small volume of essays, Gathering Moss – A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, by Robin Wall Kimmerer is the perfect introduction. It should be the next book on your reading list.

Thank you again Jeanne for sharing your article and photos with all us! Indeed, it was a great introduction to mosses! Furthermore, I hope everyone now has a deeper appreciation for the mosses and their vital role they play in the ecosystem.

So everyone try to stay warm the next few days! I certainly will be putting on my pot of soup tomorrow. 🙂

We can now 3D print as much wood as we want without cutting a single tree

Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know