For my Master's of Science research (Northern Arizona University), I spent one summer studying the moss communities on rock walls, outcrops, and cliffs in the three forests of Grand Canyon National Park. The forest design had me sample randomized sites along trail corridors throughout the park's mixed conifer, ponderosa, and pinyon-juniper forests.

 

Rocks in these three forests held over 100 species of bryophytes (mosses & liverworts) and communities varied by forest type but were more similar in the ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests. This study presents a forest-framework for sampling small mosses that can be used by the Park Service to study how mosses respond to climate change over time.