Risley Moss peat accumulation filled the depression, allowing colonisation by bog mosses such as the "Sphagnum" varieties, thus giving rise to the name "moss". Risley Moss is one of only two mosses in Cheshire where the water level has been deliberately raised in an attempt to encourage the regeneration of an active bog surface. The long-term restoration project to re-wet the moss began in 1978 and was completed in 2002. This scheme was undertaken to create a series of scrapes and bunds to retain water and recreate the perfect conditions for bog flora such as cotton grass and sphagnum mosses to re-colonise
Sphagnum cuspidatum capitulum. "Sphagnum cuspidatum" is a dominant species in the bogs that it inhabits. In wetlands, they consume methane through symbiosis with partly endophytic methanotrophic bacteria, leading to highly effective in situ methane recycling preventing large-scale methane emission into the atmosphere. The bacteria are present in the hyaline cells of the plant. Sometimes, Sphagnum moss can be infected with another type of fungus that can cause sporotrichosis. The other fungus can enter the body through cuts or scrapes on the skin, and will then cause ulcerous skin lesions. It is therefore advised to wear gloves and long sleeves when handling sphagnum