Five bags of commercial "moss" (obtained from a dealer in Rainelle, Greenbrier County) were analyzed to determine what species are harvested (gathered) in West Virginia and in what proportions. The bags contain a total of 51 species (46 mosses and 5 liverworts), with an average of 21 species per bag. Thuidium delicatulum is by far the most abundant species (total cover 33 square meters), followed by Loeskeobryum brevirostre (5.6), Hypnum imponens (5.0), and Hypnum curvifolium (3.0). In eastern North America, Hypnum imponens and Thuidium delicatulum are evidently the first and second most preferred species, respectively, in commerce (for use in terraria, as packing material, and in the decorative arts). Under-representation of H. imponens in the bags suggests either that it is declining (over-harvested), or is much less abundant than T. delicatulum in mesic forests subject to harvest. Thuidium delicatulum is a keystone species; when stripped from logs and boulders, associated species are removed too ("incidental take"). Older thicker mats with fewer associated species are preferred for the trade; "good" moss is "short-haired, green and hangs together" (dealer's comments). Thus the bag rated as "bad" by the dealer has the most species (35) and many thin mats with adhering substrata (wood and bark). The bag rated as "good" has the fewest species (12) and fewer, thicker, cleaner mats. Pending analysis of more moss bags and related studies of bryophyte communities in harvested and non-harvested forests, it appears that removal of younger, thinner mats leads to a greater loss of biodiversity than removal of older, thicker mats.

Key words: biodiversity, Hypnum curvifolium, Hypnum imponens, keystone species, Loeskeobryum brevirostre, moss harvest, Thuidium delicatulum