Sphagnum in establishment of new populations in disturbed habitats and on islands. Decayed, dried sphagnum moss has the name of peat or peat moss. This is used as a soil conditioner which increases the soil's capacity to hold water and nutrients by increasing capillary forces and cation exchange capacity. This is often necessary when dealing with very sandy soil, or plants that need increased or steady moisture content to flourish. A distinction is sometimes made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog, and 'sphagnum peat moss' (North American usage) or 'sphagnum peat' (British usage), 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