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
Abbotts Moss Nature Reserve quaking bog occurs when plants such as "Sphagnum" mosses and cotton grass "Eriophorum" sp. colonise the surface of a waterbody and form a floating mat of vegetation. Locally uncommon plants growing here include common cottongrass "Eriophorum angustifolium", cranberry "Vaccinium oxycoccos", round-leaved sundew "Drosera rotundifolia", crowberry "Empetrum nigrum", hare’s-tail cottongrass "Eriophorum vaginatum", bog rosemary "Andromeda polifolia", white beak-sedge "Rhynchospora alba" and the carnivorous lesser bladderwort "Utricularia minor". Dragonflies include the nationally rare white-faced darter "Leucorrhinia dubia" and the locally uncommon downy emerald "Cordulia aenea" and black darter "Sympetrum danae". Abbotts Moss is one of only two sites in Cheshire where adders