B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 34. 2003 (Budapest, 2003)

Szurdoki, Erzsébet: Peat mosses of North Hungary

Studia bot. iuing. 34, pp. 55-79, 2003 PEAT MOSSES OF NORTH HUNGARY E. SZURDOKI Department of Botany, Hungarian Natural History Museum H-1476 Budapest. Pf. 222, Hungary; E-mail: szurdoki@bot.nhmus.hu Altogether 17 peat moss species of 18 habitats of North Hungary were floristically investigated. Earlier and recently gained knowledge of species occurrences were compared and the conservation and threat status of species determined. The distribution of all species has changed, they have disappeared from locations and established in others. Sphagnum riparium is new for the studied area (and also for Hungary) while S. teres has disappeared. S. angustifolium, S.fallax, S. fimbriatum and S. palustre still have stable populations and presumably they will live in this area in the foreseeable future, in similar quantities. S. compaction, S. contortion, S. cuspidatum, S. quinquefarium, S. riparium and S. subsecitnditm have only few small populations and their survival is doubtful. The condition of mires is a very important factor for survival of local peat moss populations in the region. Key words: bryophytes, distribution, mire, North Hungary, Sphagnum INTRODUCTION Peat mosses and their habitats are very rare in Hungary and since the 19th century they have attracted special attention. The genus Sphagnum is protected by law in Hungary since 1986 and most of their habitats are located in protected areas (national parks, landscape conservation areas, nature reserves or nature conservation areas). Since 1996 all mires (bogs, intermediate mires, fens, swamps, swampforests) in Hungary are nation-wide protected by virtue of the law {ex lege). Of the 48 European Sphagnum species, recent records in Hungary include 24 peat mosses (DANIELS and EDDY 1985, ORBÁN and VAJDA 1983, LÁJER 1998a, SZURDOKI et al. 2000). Peat mosses and their localities were relatively well explored from early times of botany until the 1970s in Hungary {e.g. BORBÁS 1886, BOROS 1924, 1926, 1964, 1968, ZÓLYOMI 1931, 1939, SIMON 1953, MÁTHÉ and KOVÁCS 1958, 1959, PÓCS 1958, BOROS and VAJDA 1960, PÓCS et al 1962, BARBALICS 1976). This is especially true for the mires of the Northern Mountain Range where numerous scientists investigated the mires and peat mosses from different points of view {e.g. BORBÁS 1886, ZÓLYOMI 1931, 1939, SIMON 1953, MÁTHÉ and KOVÁCS 1958, 1959, BOROS and VAJDA 1960, BOROS 1964, 1968). In the 1990s numerous studies were published about the distribution of Sphagna from different parts of the country (NAGY 1996, 2002, ÓDOR et al. 1996, 2002, SZURDOKI 1996, LÁJER 1998a, b, NAGY et al. 1998, SZURDOKI et al, 2000,2001,