Spore production of bryophytes is common in subalpine ecosystems, but how spore banks of bryophytes vary with elevations is unknown. We used peat cores from two Sphagnum dominated peatlands, a low- (780 m a.s.l.) and a high-elevation (1480 m a.s.l.) site to test the hypotheses that spore concentration, accumulation rate, germinability and longevity are lower at a high-elevation peatland than those at lower elevation due to the assumed climatic limitations at high elevation. Along the cores, Sphagnum spores were extracted, burial time of spores was dated and spore germinability was tested layer by layer. Sphagnum spore concentration, accumulation rate and germinability were greater at the high-elevation peatland than at the low-elevation site. Both peatlands had long-term persistent Sphagnum spore banks with a predicted longevity (the burial time when 1% spores are viable) of c. 390 and 140 years for the low- and high-elevation sites, respectively. Our study suggests that Sphagnum, the ecological engineer of peatlands, by regulating spore production and longevity can maintain relatively constant spore banks which may be of great importance in population regeneration and persistence in a changing world.

苔藓植物的孢子产生在亚高山生态系统中很普遍，但是苔藓植物的孢子库如何随海拔升高而变化是未知的。我们使用了两个以泥炭藓为主的泥炭地的泥炭芯，一个低海拔地区（780 m asl）和一个高海拔地区（1480 m asl），以检验在高海拔地区孢子浓度，积累率，可生性和寿命较低的假设。由于假定的高海拔气候限制，泥炭地的海拔高于低海拔的泥炭地。沿核心提取泥炭藓孢子，确定孢子的埋葬时间，并逐层测试孢子的可发芽性。泥炭藓高海拔的泥炭地的孢子浓度，积累率和可发芽性比低海拔的地方大。两个泥炭地都具有长期持久的泥炭藓孢子库，预计寿命长（1％孢子可行时的埋葬时间）为c。低海拔站点和高海拔站点分别为390年和140年。我们的研究表明，泥炭地的生态工程师Sphagnum通过调节孢子的产生和寿命可以维持相对恒定的孢子库，这可能在不断变化的世界中对种群再生和持久性具有重要意义。