Sphagnum mosses are considered peatland engineers because of their ability to create conditions inducing carbon accumulation. Here, we report on a review of the effects of four environmental variables (elevated temperature, N and CO₂ and reduced moisture) on the capitulum biomass, length increment, respiration, photosynthetic capability, N and P exchange and content of the 3 most studied Sphagnum subgenera (Acutifolia, Cuspidata, Sphagnum). Overall, we observe that, when compared to in situ experiments, laboratory experiments tend to exacerbate length increments and underestimate maximum photosynthesis in most of the studies inventoried. This review underscores some differences among results that can be associated with the used of different protocols (e.g. exposure time, instrumental analysis). Studies that investigated the impact of elevated temperature (2–5 °C) on Sphagnum reveal an increase in length, respiration and photosynthesis regardless of the experimental conditions and subgenus. Elevated N (3–23 g Nm⁻²y⁻¹) on the other hand appears to reduce the length increment but had contrasting effects on photosynthesis. Some divergent responses are found with Cuspidata species because of their tolerance to high doses of N. Low moisture reduces the length increment and photosynthesis of species of the Cuspidata and Sphagnum subgenera but has different effects on species of the Acutifolia subgenus, which are relatively tolerant to water fluctuations. Responses to elevated CO₂ have no clear trends reported. Allelochemical interactions between Sphagnum, their microbiome or surrounding mosses or other plants were found to be determinant to Sphagnum responses under those variables and reinforce the interest of such investigations.

泥炭藓被认为是泥炭地工程师，因为它们能够创造诱导碳积累的条件。在这里，我们报告了四个环境变量（升高的温度、N 和 CO ₂以及减少的水分）对头状体生物量、长度增量、呼吸作用、光合能力、N 和 P 交换以及 3 个研究最多的内容的影响的回顾泥炭藓亚属 ( Acutifolia , Cuspidata , Sphagnum）。总体而言，我们观察到，与原位实验相比，实验室实验往往会加剧长度增量并低估大多数研究中的最大光合作用。本综述强调了可能与使用不同协议（例如暴露时间、仪器分析）相关的结果之间的一些差异。研究高温（2-5°C）对泥炭藓的影响的研究表明，无论实验条件和亚属如何，长度、呼吸作用和光合作用都会增加。另一方面，升高的 N (3–23 g Nm ^-2 y ^-1 ) 似乎减少了长度增量，但对光合作用产生了对比影响。Cuspidata发现了一些不同的反应种，因为它们对高剂量 N 的耐受性。低水分降低了Cuspidata和Sphagnum亚属物种的长度增量和光合作用，但对Acutifolia亚属物种有不同的影响，它们相对耐受水波动。对升高的 CO _{2 的}反应没有报告明确的趋势。发现泥炭藓、它们的微生物组或周围的苔藓或其他植物之间的化感化学相互作用是这些变量下泥炭藓反应的决定因素，并增强了对此类研究的兴趣。