Geographical, anthropogenic and climatic determinants of bryophyte species composition and richness in the Shengsi archipelago, East China Sea

ABSTRACTIntroduction. Few attempts have been made to assess the comparative contributions of different environmental factors on species composition (SC) and richness (SR) of bryophytes on continental islands.Methods. The bryophyte flora and the impact of seven environmental variables (island area, elevation, isolation, human disturbance, rainfall, vegetation cover, and exposed rock area) on 18 continental islands of the Shengsi archipelago in the East China Sea were investigated. Redundancy Analysis and Canonical Correspondence Analysis were used to determine to what extent the environmental variables could explain variation in species richness and species composition on these islands.Key results & Conclusions. Island elevation, isolation, area and human disturbance intensity all significantly influenced bryophyte SC at island level, accounting for 12.7%, 9.9%, 8.8% and 7.8% of the total SC variation, respectively. Island area was the most important determinant of bryophyte SR (P = 0.002), accounting for ...