當(dāng)Sphagnum 地衣孢子從其被囊中破壁而出的時候,，拜一種極小的蘑菇云之賜,，它們可在空氣中到達超過10厘米的范圍之中，這種蘑菇云可幫助將這些孢子向上驅(qū)動,。
這種相同種類的螺旋狀結(jié)構(gòu)還可幫助水母和魷魚在水中推進,。但是這些所謂的“渦環(huán)”在此之前卻一般沒有與植物類發(fā)生聯(lián)系。 Sphagnum 地衣所形成的厚實的簇叢覆蓋了地球陸地表面的約1%,，它對地球的碳循環(huán)非常重要，因為它比其它種類的植物可儲藏更多的碳,。
為了繁衍,，這些與大地相擁的地衣必須將其孢子投射到足夠的高度，這樣它們才能被風(fēng)力攜帶至遠距離的地方,。
在一篇Brevium中,，Dwight Whitaker和Joan Edwards證明，這些孢子所到達的高度無法簡單地用它們破壁而出的力量來解釋,。 通過捕捉到的孢子破壁投射的高速視頻,，研究人員確認(rèn)，狂暴的渦環(huán)為這些孢子提供了額外的助力,，并將其攜帶至足夠的高度而被空氣的湍流播散,。 一則相關(guān)的專家意見書對這一研究進行了討論。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1190179
Sphagnum Moss Disperses Spores with Vortex Rings
Dwight L. Whitaker 1 and Joan Edwards 2
1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Pomona College, Claremont, CA 91711, USA.
2 Biology Department, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA.
Sphagnum spores, which have low terminal velocities, are carried by turbulent wind currents to establish colonies many kilometers away. However, spores that are easily kept aloft are also rapidly decelerated in still air; thus, dispersal range depends strongly on release height. Vascular plants grow tall to lift spores into sufficient wind currents for dispersal, but nonvascular plants such as Sphagnum cannot grow sufficiently high. High-speed videos show that exploding capsules of Sphagnum generate vortex rings to efficiently carry spores high enough to be dispersed by turbulent air currents. Spores launched ballistically at similar speeds through still air would travel a few millimeters and not easily reach turbulent air. Vortex rings are used by animals; here, we report vortex rings generated by plants.
