Photosynthetic responses, the non-structural carbohydrate pool and its alterations, and the acid invertase activity under different environmental conditions in the fructan synthesising Porella platyphylla and Sphagnum flexuosum are discussed. Sucrose and fructan are the major soluble carbohydrates in both species. TLC showed that fructans form a homologous series of increasing DP in a similar manner to fructans in Angiosperms and belong to the inulin type. Exogenous sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose) applied in light and dark resulted in down-regulation of photosynthetic activity, but a long period (1 week) of dark starvation did not cause a significant decrease in the photosynthetic capacity. Light and exogenous sugars increased soluble carbohydrate content due to fructan-accumulation. Dark starvation, desiccation and low temperature did not influence significantly the amount of the total soluble carbohydrates, indicating the existence of a well-buffered carbohydrate pool, although changes in the ratio of fructans of different molecular weight can be detected. Alterations in the activity of acid invertase correlated well with the changes of the amount of the main soluble carbohydrates, showing the role of the enzyme in general carbohydrate and fructan metabolism.