Nitrogen Cycling and Ecosystem Interactions in Bryophyte Communities

Bryophyte communities, encompassing mosses, liverworts and hornworts, occupy pivotal niches across boreal, Arctic and montane landscapes where nutrient limitation and high moisture dominate. These non-vascular plants mediate nitrogen inputs through atmospheric deposition and the biological fixation of N₂ by associated microbial symbionts. Fixed nitrogen is assimilated within bryophyte tissues (thalli), retained in surface crusts and released into soils via leaching and decay, thereby influencing vascular plant communities and ecosystem productivity. Interactions between bryophytes and their microbiomes also regulate nitrification, ammonification and the turnover of organic nitrogen, with consequences for carbon sequestration and nutrient availability. As bryophyte cover expands in disturbed or recovering habitats, their contribution to nitrogen budgets can enhance ecological restoration and modulate climate feedbacks. Recent advances in molecular, isotopic and imaging techniques have begun to unravel the complexity of bryophyte–microbe partnerships, revealing diverse functional guilds of diazotrophs, methylotrophs and nitrifiers that underpin nitrogen cycling in these foundational plant assemblages.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have employed high-throughput sequencing and in vitro–field comparisons of liverworts such as Marchantia to define core microbial taxa colonising thalli. These investigations reveal that N₂-fixing bacteria and methylotrophs persist across generations and environments, demonstrating a stable, functionally rich microbiome. Such work highlights liverworts as tractable models for exploring ancient plant–microbe interactions and their roles in nitrogen acquisition and ecosystem nutrient dynamics.

Nitrogen Cycling and Ecosystem Interactions in Bryophyte Communities publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in nitrogen cycling and ecosystem interactions in bryophyte communities across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Bryophytes: Non-vascular land plants including mosses, liverworts and hornworts that lack true roots, stems and leaves.

Nitrogen fixation: Biological conversion of atmospheric nitrogen gas (N₂) into ammonia (NH₃), making nitrogen available to living organisms.

Diazotroph: Microorganism capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen via the enzyme nitrogenase.

Epiphyte: Organism that grows upon another plant for physical support without deriving nutrients from it.

Microbiome: The community of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, archaea) associated with a specific host or environment.

Thallus: The undifferentiated vegetative body of bryophytes, lacking distinct stems and leaves.

References

1. Light drives nitrogen fixation in tropical montane cloud forests in Costa Rica. The Science of The Total Environment (2024).
2. Moss-cyanobacteria associations as biogenic sources of nitrogen in boreal forest ecosystems. Frontiers in Microbiology (2013).
3. Marchantia liverworts as a proxy to plants’ basal microbiomes. Scientific Reports (2018).
4. The bacterial communities of Alaskan mosses and their contributions to N2-fixation. Microbiome (2021).