Liste actualisée et annotée des mousses de Nouvelle-Calédonie

In 1982, Pursell and Reese established the first modern checklist of mosses (Musci) for New Caledonia. Since then, many studies pertaining to this French overseas territory and surrounding regions like Polynesia, southern Pacific, Melanesia or Australasia, as well as more distant areas like Malaysia or even Asia have been published. Nearly eighty new publications have contributed to our knowledge of the local diversity and distribution of this Bryophyte group. These studies have led to taxonomic revisions and a reassessment of the biogeographic status of some taxa that had previously been considered endemic species of New Caledonia. Thus compared to the data of Pursell & Reese the rate of endemism has clearly decreased but remains close to 38.3, which maintains the bryophye flora of New Caledonia as one of the most distinct in the world.
This new annotated list accepts 520 valid specific or infra specific taxa versus 631 in Pursell & Reese. The difference reflects floristic additions, recently proposed synonymies of names and the presence of taxa whose occurrence on the island is not confirmed (including 23 nomina nuda). Annotations provide additional informations about the synonymy or the validity of some taxa. By integrating all available data, this contribution aims at facilitating further studies assessing the diversity of the New-Caledonian bryoflora.