The bryophyte flora of the city of Valencia (Eastern Spain)

Bryophytes constitute an important part of the unmanaged plant diversity of urban areas, however, it is generally overlooked and poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the urban bryoflora of Valencia, the third most important Spanish city. A total of 1,178 bryophyte samples from 94 sampling sites were identified rendering 102 taxa, 96 mosses and 6 liverworts. Despite the high overall taxon richness, the number of taxa per locality was rather low, 12.53±8.06. The sites that harbored the highest taxon richness were those with a variety of natural, old and relatively unmanaged substrates such as the Botanical Garden, Viveros Garden and the Turia River Garden. The high species richnes…