Abstract: Sexual propagule bank is of great importance for persistence of plant populations. To this day, no direct experiment proof of long-term persistent spore bank of bryophytes in peatlands was reported. In Hani Peatland of the Changbai Mountains, a 50 cm deep peat core was drilled and burial time of spores in peat layers was estimated by larch dating method. After the spores of Sphagnum capillifolium being extracted from the peat layer by layer, the spores were cultivated to investigate the effect of burial time on spore germination rate. The results showed that, with the increase of burial time, the germination rate of Sphagnum spores decreased exponentially. The results indicated that there was a long-term persistent spore bank in peatlands since spores of S.capillifolium still have the potential to germinate after 112 years of burial. According to our calculation, the maximum longevity in spores of S.capillifolium could be up to 396.4 years.

Key words: Sphagnum, spore bank, larch dating