# Moss from South America?



## J_w35 (Mar 19, 2017)

Looking to do a South American themed vivarium, however I am having trouble finding certain moss species. I would like it to be specifically from Peru, but if too difficult I have no problem generalizing it to all of South America. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

If you have time to spare, you might be able to contact a Peruvian Orchid grower. There are a few that come to the US for shows on occasion. If you pre-order orchids or plants, they might be able to bring you some local moss species as well.

There are also a couple of growers from Ecuador that make it to the US quite often.

You might even be able to get a hold of Andy's Orchids and see if he has any moss that may have come in with shipments from Peru.


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## kimcmich (Jan 17, 2016)

J_w35 said:


> Looking to do a South American themed vivarium, however I am having trouble finding certain moss species.


You may be overdoing your commitment to a Biotope when it comes to moss. Their spores being durable and wind-dispersed, mosses tend to have distributions across continents (and oceans). So it's unlikely that the moss growing in any given Peruvian habitat is endemic to that place (unlike the higher plants and animals you might find there).

Finding a Peruvian nursery might be a good strategy to source appropriate species except that moss sourced from horticulture is more likely to be non-endemic to a given location as well.

Even if you did get truly Peruvian moss for your tank, nonPeruvian moss will quickly establish itself from ambient spores in your tank and other mosses will arrive with plants you add as well. 

You'll end up with a non-biotopic mix of mosses and liverworts in your tank no matter how you start - so I wouldn't stress too much about sourcing your live moss.


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## J_w35 (Mar 19, 2017)

kimcmich said:


> J_w35 said:
> 
> 
> > Looking to do a South American themed vivarium, however I am having trouble finding certain moss species.
> ...


Definitely going to keep that in mind. Like I said if it does become too difficult I will expand my search to all of South america. I appreciate the feedback thank you!


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## Easternon (Oct 13, 2017)

Vesicularia montagnei and dubyana (I forget how to spell this but google will fix my mistakes) originate from South America, and can be bought quite easily. They also do thrive in a moist vivarium on driftwood or epiweb. Might help?


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## kimcmich (Jan 17, 2016)

Vesicularia montagnei and dubyana are both listed as _Asian_ species in the references I googled. I didn't see anything that said these were South American species - though I would not be surprised if they are pan-tropical taxa found in both places.


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## Bunsincunsin (Feb 11, 2008)

What you gain in creating a biotope is so much more than keeping a glass box with frogs or plants in it, so don’t let anyone discourage your quest to create a true biotope if that’s what you desire - no matter how futile or silly others may view it. It is something of value; it is creating context where it would otherwise not exist. But, it _will_ take a lot of research, dedication and persistence on your part.

I think the suggestions of others here are a good place to start. I don’t know what resources you are using, or are planning on using to piece together your biotope - whether it’s your or other’s photos, personal observations or a database such as GBIF or Tropicos - but in most cases you may have to settle with something that simply looks similar while being found somewhere else (though, perhaps still nearby). Even if you only end up with the moss from an orchid mount that came from a Peruvian vendor that would probably be okay (it came from Peru, right?). But you could probably do better...

It all really depends on your definition of 'biotope'. There could be a number of non-native, perhaps invasive, species that potentially dominate the habitat where these frogs thrive and persist, so whether or not you choose to incorporate those species or exclude them in your project, you could still have a legitimate biotope. A display with only a few native or endemic species and mostly non-native or invasive species could actually be the truest representation of a biotope for a particular area.

You might try Ecuaflor-A as even though they are based out of Ecuador and mostly specialize in Ecuadorian endemics and natives, there are likely species that they offer that are found further south along the Andes and into Peru.

While not a moss, I have a _Plagiochila_ sp. that was supposedly collected from Peru that I can offer you as well as a few other odds and ends. You may also want to place a wanted ad here or in one of the other online groups for Peruvian species - you may be surprised by what’s already floating around.


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