Rare epixylic liverwort Odontoschisma denudatum occurrence and cover in relation to dead log and forest stand characteristics in coniferous forest landscape

Coniferous forests play a significant role in rare wood-inhabiting bryophyte distribution. We studied the rare epixylic bryophyte Odontoschisma denudatum occurrence probability and cover in relation to dead log and forest stand variables and found that dead logs without bark were significant predictors of both O. denudatum occurrence and cover. Odontoschisma denudatum occurrence probability was positively associated with dead log middle decay stages. A positive rela-tionship was found between O. denudatum cover and dead log length but not with dead log diam-eter. The probability of finding O. denudatum substantially increased in forest stands older than 100 years. The cover of O. denudatum also significantly increased with forest stand area. Our results suggest that old-growth continuous forests are important for the conservation of O. denudatum metapopulations in the coniferous forest landscape. We recommend reducing forest stand fragmen-tation and initiating the monitoring of rare epixylic bryophyte metapopulations.