Observations on the Growth of Sphagnum Cuspidatum in a Bog Pool on the Silver Flowe National Nature Reserve

The growth in a bog-surface pool of 50-mm-long shoots of Sphagnum cuspidatum Ehrh. from two sources (a bog-surface pool and a lagg-pool) was measured in three experiments lasting four to thirteen months. The lagg-pool shoots had a lower total dry weight, greater capitulum dry weight and higher concentrations of chlorophyll, nitrogen, potassium and magnesium initially. They produced more extensiongrowth and more innovations. The conditions in bog-surface pools are suboptimal for S. cuspidatum. This species cannot produce new shoots as fast as they are lost by natural causes and cannot expand to fill the pools.