Preface // 1. Evolutionary significance of bryophytes // 1.1 What do we call a bryophyte? // 1.2 Bryophytes are embryophytes // 1.3 Bryophytes and land plant evolution // 1.4 Bryophytes and the conquest of land // 2. Ecological significance of bryophytes // 2.1 Water and biogeochemical cycles // 2.2 Vegetation succession and soil formation // 2.3 Bryophytes as food and as shelter // 3 Liverworts // 3.1 Structure and development // 3.2 Classification and macroevolution // 3.3 Biogeography and ecology // 4 Mosses // 4.1 Structure and development // 4.2 Classification and macroevolution // 4.3 Biogeography and ecology // 5 Hornworts // 5.1 Structure and development // 5.2 Classification and macroevolution // 5.3 Biogeography and ecology // 6. Biogeography // 6.1 Bryophyte diversity and distribution patterns // 6.2 Origin and evolution of bryophyte distribution patterns // 6.3 Evolutionary significance of bryophyte distribution patterns 141 // 7. Ecology // 7.1 Global ecology // 7.2 Landscape ecology // 7.3 Population ecology // 8. Physiological ecology // 8.1 Water relations // 8.2 Light // 8.3 Mineral nutrition // 8.4 Temperature // 9. Bryophytes in a changing world // 9.1 Impact of pollution on bryophytes // 9.2 Application to bioindication // 9.3 Adaptation to a changing environment // 10. Conservation biology // 10.1 Levels of threats and the need for conservation // 10.2 Why are bryophytes threatened? // 10.3. Conservation strategies // 10.4 Restoration ecology // Glossary // References // Index // Colour plates to be found between pages 152 and 153