The composition and diversity of the bryophyte flora of four 13-yr-old windthrow gaps and their adjacent forest stands was studied in the Bavarian Forest National Park, south eastern Germany. The sites belong to two forest types, a mixed montane forest and a wet spruce forest. One gap in each forest type had been cleared after the storm event but not reafforested, the other had remained unchanged. Species richness was higher in gaps than in the undisturbed forest and higher in uncleared gaps than in cleared ones. It is suggested that the higher diversity in unmanaged gaps is mainly due to the formation of additional habitats (treefall pits and mounds) while most of the forest floor and its vegetation remains intact. The forest floor of cleared gaps is heavily disturbed which promotes the development of a dense cover of grass. This in turn suppresses most bryophyte species.

An analysis of the life strategy spectra (sensu During) shows that in most microhabitats, in both the forest and windthrow areas, long-lived species (mostly perennials s. str.) predominate. For the gaps this is probably due to their age and the advanced colonization of open habitats. In contrast to this there is a clear dominance of the colonist strategy in the diaspore bank.