Final answer:
The life cycle of moss features alternation of generations, starting with a haploid spore that develops into the dominant gametophyte stage. Gametophytes give rise to sporophytes, which in turn produce spores that disperse to form new gametophytes, continuing the cycle.
Step-by-step explanation:
The life cycle of moss displays alternation of generations, which involves a dominant gametophyte stage and a sporophyte stage.
The cycle begins with a haploid spore that grows into a gametophyte. This gametophyte then forms protonema, a tangled filamentous structure, which in turn gives rise to the gametophore with leaf-like structures. Male and female gametangia develop on the gametophore, leading to the formation of zygotes that grow into sporophytes. Sporophytes produce spores through meiosis in sporangia, and these spores disperse to start the cycle anew.
Mosses primarily reproduce through their gametophyte stage, though some species are capable of asexual reproduction via fragments called gemmae. Hairy cap moss, a type of moss, exemplifies this cycle. As an autotroph, it photosynthesizes to create its own energy, but the sporophyte depends on the gametophyte for nutrients once mature, indicating a close interdependence between the two stages.