Moss
Mosses are extremely important during the early stages of ecological succession. As a new environment is being formed such as sand dunes in Presque Isle or huge boulders made of igneous granite rock in the Adirondacks that were left behind by deglaciation. In these examples the surfaces becomes inhabited through the process of succession, during which various different plant communities dominate and take over the site such as lichens and then once they have lived and died and eat away at (lets use the granite as an example) enough for something else to take root, mosses come along and then the process continues through time and the species get bigger and more complex. “Because of their ability to reproduce A sexually by fragmentation and gemmae combined with sexual reproduction, which produces enormous numbers of tiny spores, mosses play a vital role in being among the first colonizers of disturbed sites.” Mosses play an important part in stabilizing soil, reducing erosion, and because of their ability to retain water and being able to maintain humidity in their environments, they in turn reduce the evaporation of water, making more available for succeeding plants. They make soils fertile for maintaining life. Peat moss comes to mind. We add it to our fertilizer for added nutrition in our gardens. Peat mosses are found throughout the northeastern wetland areas, and are what makes up the majority of bogs.