Notes on the altitudinal range of the mosses in Aberdeenshire

Abstract

Commentary: David Chamberlain* I believe that there is more for the 21st century in this paper than an attempt to put a scientific gloss on a gratifying account of the spoils of the hunt. If altitudinal range can be used as a sympiezometer of climatic change then historical accounts such as this could provide datum points to assess potential change. However, if we assume a 1.1°C (~ 2°F) increase in average temperature over the past 160 years, this roughly equates to an expected increase in the lowest altitude records of perhaps 122 m (= 400 ft). I doubt that the records cited here are complete enough to pick up such a change. Indeed, the altitudinal ranges are very much in line with those that apply to the same species today, though I doubt that we should be complacent as average temperature may not be the limiting factor resulting from climate change that controls the distribution of our alpine and montane bryophytes. Despite this, I value this paper as an early attempt to analyse an environmental factor in relation to distribution.