Distribution, habitat and threats
The mountainous interior of Réunion Island
Habitat
Leiomitrium plicatum is restricted to tropical oceanic islands where it grows on trees or rocks. More information is still required about its ecology.
Distribution
Leiomitrium plicatum occurs on the Mascarene Islands of:
- Réunion
- Mauritius
- Rodrigues
This species was originally described from a specimen collected from Mauritius some 200 years ago. However, there are no published records of Leiomitrium plicatum on this island post 1900.
In 2008, a fieldwork expedition to Réunion enabled further documentation of the distribution of Leiomitrium on this island.
Conservation status
Leiomitrium plicatum has a very restricted global distribution and information about its abundance is limited. More data is needed to accurately access whether populations are stable, decreasing or increasing.
The continued occurrence of this species on Mauritius and Rodrigues needs to be verified.
Threats
The major threat to Leiomitrium plicatum is considered to be habitat loss due to urban development.