Bryophytes: How do these tiny plants save the environment? 

Individuals, organisations and governments around the world are desperately trying to tackle the climate change and save the environment at all costs. From the discovery of plastic gobbling bacteria to controlling greenhouse gas emissions, many mitigation measures are currently in place. And this is where, bryophytes, a group of tiny plants also come into play. Not only are they super eco-friendly, but they help restore the environment. In fact, even though they are often overlooked due to smaller size and lack of colours, they are important. How? Let us find out. 

First, what are bryophytes? 
Simply put, bryophytes are any plant belonging to the division Bryophyta and largely comprises of mosses, liverworts and hornworts. They are non-vascular in nature, meaning they have no roots or vascular tissues unlike most plants. Okay, but how do they then absorb water and nutrients? They do so using their leaves. Most of these plants only grow up to a few centimetres and even in places where other plants can’t grow such as rocks and walls. After all, they have no roots! In addition, bryophytes have the ability to grow in diverse climates, be it deserts or polar regions, but usually prefer damp and shady habitats. Approximately, there are around 11000 moss species, 7000 liverwort species and 220 hornwort species, making it thousands and thousands of bryophytes.  

What else? Well, since they are not flowering plants, they reproduce through millions of spores and not seeds, which are dispersed through wind and can spread across countries and even continents. In fact, they are also often deemed as the closest living relative of the first ever terrestrial plant with extreme evolutionary potential.  

How do they benefit the environment? 
Bryophytes help the environment in more than one way. For starters, its research can shed light on how the first plants adapted to the terrestrial habitat and help understand how their descendants have been doing the same, despite genetic diversity and climate crisis.  

Moreover, bryophytes only obtain nitrogen for their growth from cyanobacteria that act as natural fertilisers for food crops. But above all they help our environment by playing an important role in the process of absorption. Meaning what? That they can capture excess humidity from rain or even fog. This in turn can help prevent floods and soil erosion. For instance, in case of forests, they act as the ultimate natural sponge and as a water reserve for the subterranean water bodies. In doing so, they also capture, store, and recycle water as well as nutrients to the surrounding environment. What else? They also provide both shelter and food to various invertebrates.  

What’s more interesting is that, since bryophytes are non-vascular, their growth is hardly hampered after a natural disaster such as volcanic eruption, wildfire, deforestation and deglaciation. As a result, it often helps to regenerate the land, stabilise the soil surface, reduce the chances of erosion as well as moisture content. In doing so, they lay the groundwork for brand-new plants to grow there.  

Then there are certain specific bryophytes such as the Peat moss that it a super carbon sucker. In fact, it acts as a natural reservoir to both capture and store carbon indefinitely, thus combating climate change. They are abundantly available in both Canada and UK.  

Bonus fact: The study of bryophytes is called bryology.