XVI International Botanical Congess

Tropical America is one of the richest regions of bryophyte diversity in the world. It is estimated that there are ca. 2300-3000 species of mosses. Nearly 2100 species have been reported for the Caribbean Basin (Mexico, Central America and northern North America). Of these,715 are shared with the West Indies, 14 occur in the West Indies and Central America and 9 are only known from Mexico and the West Indies. About 871 species are reported for Central America. Disjunctions include Gondwanan and Laurasian derived taxa. Major bicentric disjunction of Central American mosses is with Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. Some disjunctions may also be the result of habitat restrictions (e.g., high elevation Andean species) and others reflect the imperfect state of our floristic knowledge of the region.(507) 212-8112 Smithsonian, (507) 213-0009 (Univer