Sphagnum tundra areas. Their northernmost populations lie in the archipelago of Svalbard, Arctic Norway, at 81° N. In the Southern Hemisphere, the largest peat areas are in southern Chile and Argentina, part of the vast Magellanic Moorland ("circa" 44,000 square km). Peat areas are also found in New Zealand and Tasmania. In the Southern Hemisphere, however, peat landscapes may contain many moss species other than "Sphagnum". "Sphagnum" species are also reported from "dripping rocks" in mountainous, subtropical Brazil. As with many other mosses, "Sphagnum" species disperse spores through the wind. The tops of spore capsules are only about 1 cm above
Aulacomnium palustre plant communities, and individual moss species often have low cover and/or frequency. Moss species with coverages of 2% to 4% can be common to dominant in boreal communities, although ribbed bog moss attains coverages as great as 40% in some boreal communities. Ribbed bog moss grows in open and forested wetland communities. In unforested northern communities, ribbed bog moss is found in sedge ("Carex" spp.) meadows, sphagnum ("Sphagnum" spp.) peatlands, heath-sedge fens, and willow ("Salix" spp.)-dominated fens. In forests, ribbed bog moss grows in the ground layer of boreal and subboreal white spruce ("Picea glauca"), black spruce ("P. mariana"), mixed