An extremely rare moss which has only been found in one place in the UK in the last 30 years has now been moved to two new sites in a bid to revive the critically endangered species.
Round-leaved bryum, a moss which lives in the mud and is only revealed when water levels in lochs and reservoirs are low, was identified by
@TheBotanics' David Chamberlain at Threipmuir Reservoir, near Balerno, Edinburgh in December 2023.
Since then, NatureScot and RBGE have been working together to grow and translocate the rare moss to
@scottish_water's North Third and Loch Coulter reservoirs, near Stirling, which were found to have the right conditions for the moss to survive.
ALT Round-leaved bryum being grown and cultivated at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh nursery. Rebecca is gently tweezing the moss out of its pot to put into a small glass jar for transport to its new home.
ALT A hand with tweezers gently holding a small clump of moss and putting it into a glass jar for transport.
ALT A woman and a man kneeling down and planting the moss into the mud.
ALT The moss is planted into the mud around a wooden stake and a spacer allowing six small clump of moss to be evenly planted together. The stake will allow the conservationists to come back and check on how the moss is doing.