Long-term coordinated morphological and hydrological traits of desert mosses in an arid temperate desert

Our findings revealed that the succession of moss species in a restored desert followed three sequential adaptive trajectory shifts: from species with small shoot sizes, prioritizing high-density colonization and conservative hydrological functions (low water absorption and strong water retention capacities), to those with larger shoot sizes, prioritizing low-density colonization and competitive hydrological functions (high water absorption and rapid dehydration), and finally to species with even larger shoot sizes, featuring morphological innovations (awns) that have excellent water-holding capacity (awn-mediated absorption-retention synergy). This study demonstrated that moss species can progressively optimize their adaptive strategies under prolonged ecological restoration.