what are the advances in complexity of bryophytes over algae regarding their morphology, habitat,asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction.

Bryophytes: are plants that lack vascular tissue and require environmental water to reproduce. General characteristics of this group include: a waxy cuticle to slow down water loss and gametangia that protect developing gametes. The male gamatangium is called the antheridium which produces flagellated sperm. The female archegonium produces a single egg. Bryophytes need water to reproduce. They do not contain any vascular tissue for up right support. These plants usually form mats of horizontally growing tissue. The plant grips the ground with elongated cells called rhizoids. Photosynthesis occurs in the stem-like structures above the matted plant bodies. They undergo an alternation of generations with the haploid generation being the dominant form of this cycle. The sporophytes are generally smaller and depend on the gametophyte for water and protection.
Algae The term algae embraces all photosynthetic protists. It refers to an aquatic, photosynthetic way of life, not an evolutionary kinship. Most algae live in water, but some are terrestrial. Most algae live near the surface of the water producing 30 to 50 percent of the earth's oxygen. Algae are classified on the basis of conservative characteristics such as the type of cell wall, flagella, photosynthetic pigments, and the form in which food is stored. They are single celled or live in a colonial arrangment. Sporulation is the most common form of asexual reproduction in the algae. Sporulation refers to the process in which any cell of an organism produces one or more reproductive cells inside its cell walls. The original cell is termed a sporangium and the new cells are termed spores. Spores are often produced in large numbers for the rapid increase in population size.

What event begins the gametophyte phase of the life cycle?Where does it occur in mosses and liverworts?

The life of a moss starts from a haploid spore, which germinates to produce a protonema, which is either a mass of filaments or thalloid (flat and thallus-like). This is a transitory stage in the life of a moss. From the protonema grows the gametophore ('gamete-bearer') that is differentiated into stems and leaves ('microphylls'). From the tips of stems or branches develop the sex organs of the mosses. The female organs are known as archegonia (sing. archegonium) and are protected by a group of modified leaves known as the perichaetum (plural, perichaeta). The archegonia have necks called venters which the male sperm swim down. The male organs are known as antheridia (singular antheridium) and are enclosed by modified leaves called the perigonium (plural, perigonia). dioecious in seed plants) or monoicous (compare monoecious). In dioicous mosses, both male and female sex organs are borne on different gametophyte plants. In monoicous (also called autoicous) mosses, they are borne on the same plant. In the presence of water, sperm from the antheridia swim to the archegonia and fertilisation occurs, leading to the production of a diploid sporophyte.

What event starts the sporophyte stage of the life cycle? When and where does it occur in liveSporophyte starts when an egg and sperm unite to form a diploid new individual.

Mosses: when the the moss sperm swims to the female archegonium, fertilizes the egg cell and begins developement of the sporophyte...foot/stalk/capsule at the top of a female gametophyte. Did you know that only female gametophytes produce capsules?rworts? Mosses?

What features distinguish a moss from a liverwort?

Mosses have microphylls lacking in liverworts. Liverworts cells contain oil bodies. The capsules of mosses open and close using the peristome. The capsule is covered with a calyptra (part of the archegonium) in mosses. Liverworts usually have flattened thalli.
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How Did Liverworts Get Their Name?

Liverworts are small moss like plants that do not flower or produce seeds. They received their names because they are believed to resemble the lobes of the human liver. During the middle ages the doctrine of signatures was a teaching that doctors and herbalists followed which stated that if a plant looked like a part of the human body, then that plant could be used to treat ailments of that organ. The thalloid of the liverworts resembles a lobed liver.The word liver was combined with the word wort, which means herb.

What ecological roles do mosses, liverworts,and hornworts play in the environment? they do have an important and subtle ecological role, both in water-retention and stabilising mobile surfaces like landslips, scree slopes and sand dunes. Examination of almost any handful of moss will also reveal another important ecological role – that of providing shelter and humidity for a remarkable diversity of invertebrates. This is an integral part of the food web in many of our important habitats.
In the past, mosses were used as an easily obtainable and multi-purpose packaging material. Wads of mosses were used to line pits, probably for the storage of vegetables, and also as stuffing for bedding, along with bracken and straw. ‘Ötzi’, the 5,000 year-old body of a hunter found in a glacier in the Tyrol, had large quantities of moss stuffed inside his clothing. This was possibly for insulation but more probably as packing material for his food and this kind of use was probably widespread. It is likely that moss has a long tradition of use for ‘personal hygiene’, a tradition kept up by desperate hill-walkers today. Moss was also used as a caulking (a filler) by Bronze and Iron Age boat-builders and this use continued up until the early 19th century in northern Scotland. Similar use was made of moss to pack the walls of stone houses, particularly near the chimney to keep out the wind and prevent the heat[pic] from setting fire to the wooden frame.

The sporophyte generation of mosses is completely dependent on the gametophyte and never makes independent contact with the substrate. Accordingly, we treat it as an anatomical extension of the gametophyte. A generalized bryophyte sporophyte can be considered as having three parts: a "foot" which connects the embryo to the gametophyte to extract nutrients, a seta which lifts the mature sporophyte clear of the gametophyte body, and a terminal sporangium capsule. Shaw & Renzaglia (2004). In addition, we might add the protective structures formed by the gametophyte.

Bryophytes are a group of simple and primitive plants. They grow in moist and shady places forming a dense mass or mat on damp soil, rock, logs and other substrata. They are basically terrestrial forms, but require the presence of water for completing the life cycle. Hence, they are commonly described as 'amphibians of the plant kingdom'.
The life cycle of bryophytes shows two distinct phases namely a haploid gametophytic phase and a diploid sporophytic phase alternating with each other. The adult plant body represents the gametophyte. A short-lived sporophyte occurs as a parasite on the gametophyte.

Bryophytes, being mosses among other things, lack vascular tissue. Vascular tissue can be seen in trees and flowering plants- they're the bundles of cells that carry water and nutrients around the plant body.

Bryophytes lack these vasular tissues, and so if they were tall, they wouldn't have the tissue necessary to spread needed nutrients and would die.