Marchantia polymorpha
Table of Contents
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Matthews, Robin F. 1993. Marchantia polymorpha. In: Fire Effects Information
System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer).
Available: https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/bryophyte/marpol/all.html
[].
Revisions:
10 September 2013: The Fire Case Study of Zasada and others' [19,56,57]
study was converted to a Research Project Summary.
24 July 2013: Common name of Marchantia polymorpha added
ABBREVIATION :
MARPOL
SYNONYMS :
Marchantia aquatica (Nees) Burgeff
SCS PLANT CODE :
MAPO16
COMMON NAMES :
common liverwort
umbrella liverwort
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of commnon liverwort is Marchantia
polymorpha L.; it is in the class Hepaticae [16,34]. The following
varieties are recognized based on ecological and morphological
characteristics [13,14]:
Marchantia polymorpha L. var. polymorpha
Marchantia polymorpha L. var. aquatica Nees --often submerged with
the thallus erect or suberect
Marchantia polymorpha L. var. alpestris Nees --most often in dense
compact patches in alpine regions with prostrate
thallus
LIFE FORM :
Bryophyte
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
SPECIES: Marchantia polymorpha
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Common liverwort is the most widely distributed hepatic in the
world [47]. It is a cosmopolitan species that occurs from tropical to
arctic regions [6,14,42,47].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES31 Shinnery
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES41 Wet grasslands
FRES42 Annual grasslands
FRES44 Alpine
STATES :
AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA
HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD
MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ
NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC
SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WI WY AB
BC MB NB NF NT NS ON PE PQ SK
YT
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
widely distributed, occurs in most types within its range
SAF COVER TYPES :
widely distributed, occurs in most types within its range
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Common liverwort is found in various habitats ranging from tropical
forests to arctic tundra but is not a dominant or indicator species in
published classification schemes.
Commonly associated species in northern North America include postfire
invaders or sprouters such as willows (Salix spp.), blueberries
(Vaccinium spp.), fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium), bluejoint
reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis), sheathed cottonsedge (Eriophorum
vaginatum), fire moss (Ceratodon purpurea), and other mosses (Funaria
hygrometrica, Polytrichum commune, P. juniperum, P. piliferum).
SPECIES: Marchantia polymorpha
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Invasion and formation of common liverwort mats after fire helps to prevent
soil erosion [43,44].
In southeastern British Columbia, common liverwort colonized mineral soil
exposed by skid trails [38].
Common liverwort has a high lead tolerance and may be an indicator
of high lead concentrations [10]. It also tolerates other heavy metals
[14,30,32]. Gemmalings grow in lead concentrations to 400 parts per
million (p/m) and zinc concentrations to 100 p/m. Copper suppresses
growth but chelated copper complexed with ethylene-diaminetetraacetic
acid is tolerated at high levels [15].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Historically, common liverwort was thought to be an antidote for diseases
of the liver and tuberculosis due to the fact that its form and texture
resemble that of an animal liver [8].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Dichlorophen kills common liverwort [11].
SPECIES: Marchantia polymorpha
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Common liverwort has a flat, branching form. The thallus is
generally 0.8 to 4 inches (2-10 cm) long and 0.3 to 0.8 inch (7-20 mm)
broad. Thalli are dichotomously branched and exhibit apical growth.
Numerous rhizoids attach the gametophyte (thallus) to the soil. Smooth
rhizoids penetrate the soil, while tuberculate rhizoids run horizontally
along the surface of the plant. Common liverwort is dioecious
[5,8,9,34].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
NO-ENTRY
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Common liverwort has two alternate forms in its life cycle: a
gametophytic stage and a sporophytic stage. The gametophyte propagates
itself vegetatively and also produces the gametes which give rise to the
sporophyte [8,9,55].
In sexual reproduction, antheridia and archegonia develop on separate
plant bodies and are borne on stalked antheridiophores and
archegoniophores, respectively. Fertilization takes place prior to
elongation of the stalk, and a sporophyte is formed. Spores with
hygroscopic elaters (slender threads that twist and coil as they dry and
propel spores into the air) subsequently develop and are released [8].
As many as 7 million spores may be formed on each plant [55].
Vegetative reproduction may occur as a result of fragmentation or gemma
cup production. In fragmentation, new plants are formed when older
plant parts die at the fork of a branch of a thallus. The two branches
then become separate individuals [8]. Gametophytes produce propagative
structures called gemma cups. Each gemma gives rise to numerous gemmae
that are released when the cup fills with water. Gemmae that are
transported to favorable sites form a pair of young plants [9,27].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Common liverwort grows on a wide variety of sites within its range
including cliffs, closed forests, alpine heathlands, peat bogs,
minerotropic fens, springs, swamps, grasslands, and tundra [2,5,8,50].
It is most often found on moist or wet mineral soil, especially in
recently burned areas [4,18,21]. Common liverwort grows best in
subcalcareous soil conditions (pH 6.0) under full sunlight [42,46].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Obligate Initial Community Species
In central Canada, common liverwort is a primary invader of marshes and
edges of small ponds that are associated with fluctuating water tables
[12].
Common liverwort mats can interfere with the establishment of
seedlings of other vegetation [22].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Common liverwort gametophores appear and archegonia are ready for
fertilization in early to late May [18]. Sporogonia mature and spores
are released in July [18,34]. Gemmae production ceases in late spring
in Michigan [27].
SPECIES: Marchantia polymorpha
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Common liverwort rapidly invades burned areas by light wind-borne
spores [19,39,45]. Exposed mineral soil and high lime concentrations
present after a severe fire provide favorable conditions for gametophyte
establishment [28,50,51,52].
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Secondary colonizer - off-site spores
SPECIES: Marchantia polymorpha
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
NO-ENTRY
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Common liverwort is widely recognized as an initial or early
invader of burned sites [7,17,24,36]. It exhibits dramatic growth
following fire and in some cases attains 100 percent cover
[25,29,33,37]. Common liverwort dominates the early moss-herb
stage after a fire but does not persist through subsequent stages of
succession [21,35,46,48]. In Alaska and Canada, common liverwort colonies
are not present in prefire communities [40,41,53,54].
In northeastern Minnesota, cover of common liverwort on burned jack pine
(Pinus banksiana)-black spruce (Picea mariana) sites increased until
postfire year 3, but it was replaced by lichens (Peltigera spp.) by
postfire year 5 [1].
Common liverwort produced large spreading mats on thin mineral soil
and charred humus after a severe fire in New Jersey. The mats persisted
for 2 to 3 years, then were replaced by shrubs and forbs [49].
In interior Alaska, common liverwort found in burned white spruce (Picea
glauca) and mesic black spruce types had the following frequency and
cover percentages [21]:
Years White spruce Black spruce
Stage since fire frequency cover frequency cover
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Newly burned 0-1 0 0 0 0
2. Moss-herb 1-5 15 1 6 8
3. Tall shrub- 3(5)-30 0 0 12 2
sapling
4. Dense tree 26-45 (WS) 0 0
30-55 (BS) 0 0
After the 1971 Wickersham Dome Fire near Fairbanks, Alaska, M.
polymorpha was present in severely burned black spruce and trembling
aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands but was not present in adjacent
unburned control plots or in lightly burned stands. Marchantia
polymorpha attained its highest frequency the third year after the fire
when it reached 5 percent and 45 percent on black spruce and trembling
aspen sites, respectively. Biomass production in grams per square meter
was as follows [52]:
Black spruce Aspen
-----------------------------
1973 0.1 0.5
1974 0.8 69.6
In Alaska, common liverwort was more predominant on well-drained sites than
poorly drained sites after fire due to the fact that exposed mineral
soil provided a more favorable seedbed [26].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
For information on prescribed fire and postfire response of many plant
species, including common liverwort, see Hamilton's Research Papers
(Hamilton 2006a, Hamilton 2006b) and these Research Project Summaries:
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Common liverwort revegetates areas where mineral soil has been
exposed. Colonies aid in the renewal of the humus and prepare the soil
for the establishment of other vegetation [49].
SPECIES: Marchantia polymorpha
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