Bryophyte Community Composition and Diversity as Bioindicators of Elevational Zonation in Tropical Rainforests in Hainan Island, China

Although mountain vertical vegetation belts are key in revealing the response to climate change and the maintenance mechanism of biodiversity, traditional field surveys and remote sensing methods face significant limitations in the structurally complex tropical humid mountainous regions of Hainan Island. As bryophytes are good microclimate indicators and characteristic components of the structure of the tropical rainforest, they may be useful tools for the construction of a general scheme of the altitudinal zonation of tropical rainforests. We surveyed bryophyte communities across eight elevations and three vegetation types at LiMu Mountain, southern China. Bryophyte species alpha diversity increased significantly as elevation increased, while beta diversity showed the contrasting pattern. Bryophyte community composition differed significantly along elevation gradients and the distribution of vegetation types was clearly distinguished by three significantly different bryophyte assemblages with specific elevational range. Hierarchical partitioning revealed that microclimate outweighed topography in structuring communities, aligning with global patterns of bryophyte thermal sensitivity. Bryophytes are effective bioindicators for tropical rainforest elevational zonation, reflecting fine-scale environmental gradients. Their sensitivity to microclimate supports their utility in monitoring vegetation shifts under climate change, particularly in topographically complex regions.