Editing Spanish moss (section)

== Ecology ==
[[File:Spanish moss in Pender County, NC IMG 4472.JPG|thumb|Spanish moss growing along the limb of a tree]]
Spanish moss is not parasitic: it is an [[epiphyte]] that absorbs nutrients and water through its own leaves from the air and rain falling upon it. While its presence rarely kills the trees on which it grows, it occasionally becomes so thick that, by shading the leaves of the tree, it slows the growth rate of the tree.<ref name="floridata.com" /> Different species of plant seem to vary in their tolerance to Spanish Moss, and it has become a problematic weed in some places it has been introduced, such as Northern Sydney, Australia, where it is a threat to the Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest, Blue Gum High Forest and rainforests of the area.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.step.org.au/images/STEPimages/PDFdownloads/SpanishMoss.pdf |title=Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides): An Environmental Weed. A Preliminary Assessment in Northern Sydney.|last=Buchanan|first=Robin|access-date=2025-03-26}}</ref>

Spanish Moss can use the water-conserving strategy of [[crassulacean acid metabolism]] for photosynthesis.<ref name="Kluge-et-al-1973">{{cite journal |last1=Kluge |first1=M |last2=Lange |first2=O L |last3=Eichmann |first3=M V |last4=Schmid |first4=R |title=CAM in Tillandsia usneoides: Studies on the pathway of carbon and the dependency of CO2-exchange on light intensity, temperature and water content of the plant (in German) |journal=Planta |date=1973 |volume=112 |issue=4 |pages=357–72 |doi=10.1007/BF00390308 |pmid=24468815 }}</ref><ref name="Haslam-et-al-2003">{{cite journal |last1=Haslam |first1=Richard |last2=Borland |first2=Anne |last3=Maxwell |first3=Kate |last4=Griffiths |first4=Howard |title=Physiological responses of the CAM epiphyte Tillandsia usneoides L. (Bromeliaceae) to variations in light and water supply |journal=Journal of Plant Physiology |date=2003 |volume=160 |issue=6 |pages=627–34 |doi=10.1078/0176-1617-00970 |pmid=12872484}}</ref>

In the southern U.S., the plant seems to show preferences for southern live oak (''[[Quercus virginiana]]'') and bald cypress (''[[Taxodium distichum]]'') because of their high rates of foliar mineral leaching (calcium, [[magnesium]], [[potassium]], and [[phosphorus]]) that provides an abundant supply of nutrients to the epiphytic plant.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=William H. |last1=Schlesinger |first2=P. L. |last2=Marks |jstor=2442489 |title=Mineral Cycling and the Niche of Spanish Moss, Tillandsia usneoides L. |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=64 |issue=10 |date=1977 |pages=1254–1262 |doi=10.2307/2442489}}</ref> It can also colonize other tree species such as sweetgum (''[[Liquidambar styraciflua]]''), crepe-myrtles (''[[Lagerstroemia]]'' spp.), other oaks, and even [[pine]]s.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} It also grows more uncommonly on artificial structures such as fencing and telephone lines.<ref name="eFloras"/>

Spanish moss shelters a number of creatures, including [[rat snake]]s and three species of [[bat]]s. One species of [[Salticidae|jumping spider]], ''[[Pelegrina tillandsiae]]'', has been found only on Spanish moss.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2011/feb/scout1/ |title=Flora Fact:{{!}} Spanish Moss Serves as Nature's Draperies|last=Wildlife|first=State of Texas, Parks and|website=www.tpwmagazine.com|access-date=2017-10-26}}</ref> Although widely presumed to infest Spanish moss, in one study of the ecology of the plant, [[chiggers]] were not present among thousands of other arthropods identified on the plant.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whitaker Jr. |first1=J |last2=Ruckdeschel |first2=C. |title=Spanish Moss, the Unfinished Chigger Story |journal=Southeastern Naturalist |date=2010 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=85–94 |doi=10.1656/058.009.0107|s2cid=86228838 }}</ref>

Spanish moss is sensitive to airborne contaminants. It does not grow in areas where smoke is common, such as near chimneys. It has receded from urban areas due to increasing air pollution.<ref name="floridata.com"/>