Bryology is the science of mosses (bryophytes). Translated from Greek, "brion" - "moss", "logos" - "teaching", thus, the literal translation is "the doctrine of moss." Bryology is a fairly young scientific branch, which is one of the branches of botany. Scientists involved in the study of mosses are called bryologists.
Bryology subject
Any scientific doctrine assumes the existence of an object of study. Since bryology is a science of bryophytes, the subject of its study is primarily species belonging to this family of plants, as well as anatomical, morphological, biochemical, genetic, environmental, geographical, physiological features, bryologists, among other things, are exploring the possibility of using mosses for medical, domestic purposes.
Mossy classification
Judging by the database compiled as of 2010, in nature there are more than 15 thousand species, more than 1 thousand genera and more than 150 families of mosses. A few years earlier, in a section of botany called "bryology" (the science of which is discussed in this article), all plants that are bryophytes were considered by scientists as a single taxon of the rank of the Moss department.
Science does not stand still, so today there are three groups of mosses, distinguished in the following departments:
1. Antotserotovidny.
2. Mossy.
3. Hepatic.
Science
For the first time, moss research began in the mid-19th century. Bryology itself (this is the science of bryophytes) is considered a young discipline, which was formed at the time when it became possible to use microscopic technology to study the structure of medium-sized plants from 3 to 50 mm in size. A review of the structure and systemic construction of mosses was carried out by I. Hedwig (Switzerland), S. Bridel and V. Schimper (Germany), D. Hooker (Great Britain), V. Mitten (USA). At the dawn of the 20th century, the Finnish scientist V.F. Broterus compiled a classification of bryophytes (and bryology is the science of them), which was considered the main one for a long time, but was later changed somewhat due to the possibility of including molecular studies.
In Russia, the study of mosses also began in the mid-19th century: a geographic society, which included geographer E.K. Hoffmann and biologists F.I. Ruprecht and M.E. Tsikkendrat, was sent to the north of the Urals, expeditions managed to study some bryophytes and even collect a herbarium, numbering one hundred and ten species. A century later, the Russian botanist A. G. Shrenk, from 1948 to 1955, was on an expedition in the north of Russia, where he actively studied bryophytes (bryology is the science of bryophytes). The scientist managed to discover 25 species of plants, mostly leaf-stem type.
The development of scientific thought at present
At present, the inventory of bryophytes has not been completed. According to some reports, in the world there are from 22 to 27 thousand species of bryophytes. Still poorly understood bryologists are tropical latitudes and the southern hemisphere.
The largest herbariums of bryophytes in Russia were created in scientific centers of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kirovsk (Murmansk region), Vladivostok, and Irkutsk.