Diversity, abundance, distribution, life forms and strategies of mosses in Mt. Pulag, Philippines

Mt. Pulag, the highest peak in the isalnd of Luzon, Philippines at 2,992 m above sea level was investigated for its moss flora focusing on the occurrence of life form and life strategy. Moss collections from Mt. Pulag totaled 58 species belonging to 28 families, thus, increasing the collections from the locality to 144 species. These are distributed among three angiosperm vegetation zones, the pine forest, mossy forest and the grassland dominated by Yushania niitakayamensis. Among the collections include Pogonatum perichaetiale, a new record from the Philippines. In terms of life forms, the grassland (collection site at approx. 2850 masl) and pine forest (approx. 2440 masl)shared the similar characteristics of having a low percentage of drought intolerant classes, i.e. grassland 14.3% and pine 10%. These percentages, however, increased when the collections from the mossy forests were considered, 44.5% (mossy forest1, approx. 2725 masl) and 37.5 % (mossy forest 2, approx. 2590 masl). Five out of the six life strategies of During (1992) were observed to occur in the moss populations in the area. The frequency of colonists in all the collection sites was quite high except in mossy forest 1. Fugitives and annual shuttle species were observed to occur only in the pine forest. The frequency of perennials and long lived shuttle species varied between the different collection sites. For perrenials, the mossy forests are the habitats that they preferred based on the relatively high frequency of occurrence of this strategy in the two collection sites. The long lived shuttles dominated the grassland. This survey on life forms and strategies resulted in the establishment of a moss based zonation pattern in Mt. Pulag. This may be best described as a zonation pattern indirectly affected by elevation and is primarily defined by the ecophysiological demands of the mosses. The assertion that grassland, mossy forest, and pine forest are different from each other in terms of moss vegetation is based principally on their ecological differences.