''Marsupella profunda'', the western rustwort, is a

liverwort The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of g ...

native to Europe and known only from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

(

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

) and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

(

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

) and has been sighted in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. It is a small reddish liverwort and can be confused with '' Marsupella sprucei'' which has a more widespread distribution.

Distribution and habitat

''Marsupella profunda'' is a

saxicolous A saxicolous lichen is a lichen that grows on rock. The prefix "sax" from the Latin means "rock" or "stone". Characteristics Saxicolous lichens exhibit very slow growth rates. They may develop on rock substrates for long periods of time, give ...

plant, commonly found on open but shady sites, in wet rock crevices or on slopes. It has a very

disjunct population In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

, from

Santa Maria Island Santa Maria () is an island in the Eastern Group, Azores, eastern group of the Azores archipelago (south of the island of São Miguel Island, São Miguel) and the southernmost island in the Azores. The island is known for its white sand beaches, ...

and

Madeira Island Madeira is a Portuguese island, and is the largest and most populous of the Madeira Archipelago. It has an area of , including Ilhéu de Agostinho, Ilhéu de São Lourenço, Ilhéu Mole (northwest). As of 2011, Madeira had a total population of ...

Macaronesia Macaronesia (Portuguese: ''Macaronésia,'' Spanish: ''Macaronesia'') is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of List of islands in the At ...

to mountainous areas in

Continental Portugal Continental Portugal ( pt, Portugal continental, ) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the Portuguese Republic, namely that part on the Iberian Peninsula and so in Continental Europe, having approximately 95% of the total population and ...

, to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The species was also sighted in

La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...

on the

though its presence on the archipelago is not confirmed. Less than 1000 individuals are known, occupying an area of about from in altitude. In Portugal the species is mainly reported from the

Peneda-Gerês National Park The Peneda-Gerês National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês, ), also known simply as Gerês, is a national park located in northern Portugal. Created in May 1971, it is the oldest protected area and the only national park in Portugal. ...

, the

Serra da Estrela Natural Park Serra da Estrela Natural Park is situated in the largest mountain range in Portugal - the Serra da Estrela, and is the source of the rivers Mondego, Zêzere (tributary of the Tagus), and Alva. The park is the largest natural conservation area ...

, the

Serra de São Mamede Natural Park Serra de São Mamede Natural Park is a nature park, natural park in the Serra de São Mamede range, Portugal. It is one of the 30 areas which are officially under protection in the country. Climate The São Mamede Range rises from the Alentejo re ...

, the Alvão/ Marão ranges and, to some degree, the Monchique Range. The species is rare in Britain; it is known from just ten locations, all in Cornwall. These sites at Lower Bostraze and Leswidden,

St Austell Clay Pits St Austell Clay Pits, (Cornwall, England, UK,) are a group of locations within active china clay quarries that form a single Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation, noted for its biological characteristics. ...

and

Tregonning Hill Tregonning Hill is the westerly of two granite hills overlooking Mount's Bay in west Cornwall, United Kingdom, the other being Godolphin Hill. They are approximately west of the town of Helston. The Plymouth chemist William Cookworthy mixed chin ...

, are all protected as

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. Within Cornwall, western rustwort is generally found growing on micaceous or clay waste substrates which are flat or gently sloping. Some patches occur on granitic rocks, usually where these are soft or crumbling. It appears to be a

pioneer species Pioneer species are hardy species that are the first to colonize barren environments or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems that have been disrupted, such as by wildfire. Pioneer flora Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so m ...

, the largest populations being found on surfaces showing the early stages of colonisation by other

bryophyte The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited in ...

s and by vascular plants. New plants develop and grow rapidly from spores, while older plants disappear as they are shaded out by surrounding vegetation. It disappeared from at least six Cornish sites between 1971 and 2005 due to shading from European gorse (''

Ulex europaeus ''Ulex europaeus'', the gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the British Isles and Western Europe. Description Growing to tall, it is an evergreen shrub. The young stems are g ...

'') and bramble (''

Rubus fruticosus ''Rubus fruticosus'' L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the rose family. The name has been interpreted in several ways: *The species represented by the type specimen of ''Rubus fruticosus'' L., ...

'' agg.)

Conservation

This liverwort is rare in all parts of its range and is known from only a few sites in each locality where it is present. The species has several conservation designations. It is listed on Schedule 8 of the

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom implemented to comply with European Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. In short, the act gives protection to native species (especia ...

, in Appendix 1 of the Bern Convention, and as a 'priority species' in Annex II of the European Community Habitats and Species Directive (1992). Annex II means areas in which it occurs can be declared

Special Areas of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

, ''if'' these areas belong to one of the number of

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s listed in Annex I of the directive.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5427188 Jungermanniales Flora of Portugal Flora of Madeira Flora of Great Britain Environment of Cornwall Vulnerable plants