Bryology (fromGreekbryon, a moss, a liverwort) is the branch ofbotany concerned with the scientific study ofbryophytes (mosses,liverworts, andhornworts).Bryologists are botanists who have an active interest in observing, recording, classifying or researching bryophytes.[1] The field is often studied along withlichenology due to the similar appearance andecological niche of the two organisms, even though bryophytes and lichens are not classified in the samekingdom.
Bryophytes were first studied in detail in the 18th century. In 1717 the German botanistJohann Jacob Dillenius (1687–1747), laterSherardian Professor of Botany atOxford from 1734 to 1747, produced the work "Reproduction of theferns and mosses".[citation needed] The beginning of bryology really belongs to the work of Transylvanian-bornJohannes Hedwig (1730–1799), sometimes called the "father of bryology",[2]who clarified the reproductive system of mosses in 1782 in hisFundamentum historiae naturalis muscorum frondosorum[3]and arranged ataxonomy.
Areas of research include bryophytetaxonomy, bryophytes asbioindicators,DNA sequencing, and the interdependency of bryophytes and other plant, fungal and animal species. Among other things, scientists have discovered parasitic (mycoheterotrophic) bryophytes such asAneura mirabilis (previously known asCryptothallus mirabilis) and potentially carnivorous liverworts such asColura zoophaga andPleurozia.[4][5][6]
Centers of research in bryology include theUniversity of Bonn in Germany, theUniversity of Helsinki in Finland and theNew York Botanical Garden.
The Bryologist a scientific journal began publication in 1898, and includes articles on all aspects of the biology of mosses, hornworts, liverworts and lichens and also book reviews. It is published byThe American Bryological and Lichenological Society.[7][8]
The scientificJournal of Bryology, renamed in 1972 from its original name ofTransactions of the British Bryological Society that commenced in 1947, is published by theBritish Bryological Society.[9]
[...] German botanist, Johann Hedwig (1730–1799), known as the father of bryology and the 'Linnaeus of mosses,' [...].
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