A Checklist of the Marchantiophyta and Anthocerotophyta of New Brunswick, Canada

Specimens of liverworts from New Brunswick, Canada, have been collected and preserved in North American herbaria since the late 19th century. Although detailed records have been maintained, no species list has yet been published. Our goal was to compile and publish a comprehensive checklist, thereby providing a biodiversity baseline for the province and focusing future conservation work. Herein we provide the first annotated checklist of the liverworts and hornworts known to occur in this province. Beginning with an unpublished list generated largely from liverwort specimens at the Herbarium of the New Brunswick Museum (NBM), we added records by examining and/or compiling information from: (1) other unpublished and published sources within the province, especially research collections at the University of New Brunswick, Saint John; (2) liverwort specimens associated with focal species in multi-species collections at the NBM; and (3) specimens in out-of-province herbaria, located via the web portal of the Consortium of North American Bryophyte Herbaria. This checklist confirms the presence of at least 120 liverwort and 2 hornwort species, and suggests another 13 species that are likely to occur. We elaborate on frequency, distribution, and habitat preferences of these species. Recent collections have expanded and refined the list of species known to inhabit the province, but targeted surveys of under-represented counties, habitats, and species groups are needed to more fully catalogue New Brunswick's liverwort and hornwort diversity.