Sphagnum very important soil and topper for most carnivorous plants. In the 7th Framework Programme Mossclone peat mosses multiplied in moss bioreactors are developed as a new tool to monitor air pollution. Sphagnum is also used in air layering, a method of propagation used to propagate woody stems like guavas. A ball of Sphagnum is tied against a midway ringed bark of a branch still attached on the parent plant using a translucent plastic material (vitalon). Native Americans used peat moss as diaper material for their babies and is used to wick away the moisture and absorb the excrement from the
Carnivorous plant more or less than this optimum will take up less carbon dioxide than an optimal plant, and hence growing less well. These plants will be at a selective disadvantage. At zero investment the growth is zero, because a non-carnivorous plant cannot survive in a habitat with absolutely no soil-borne nutrients. Such habitats do not exist, so for example, "Sphagnum" absorbs the tiny amounts of nitrates and phosphates in rain very efficiently and also forms symbioses with diazotrophic cyanobacteria. In a habitat with abundant soil nutrients but little light (as shown above), the gross photosynthesis curve will be lower and flatter,