Accelerated vegetation succession but no hydrological change in a boreal fen during 20 years of recent climate change.

ABSTRACT: Northern mires (fens and bogs) have significant climate feedbacks and contribute to biodiversity, providing habitats to specialized biota. Many studies have found drying and degradation of bogs in response to climate change, while northern fens have received less attention. Rich fens are particularly important to biodiversity, but subject to global climate change, fen ecosystems may change via direct response of vegetation or indirectly by hydrological changes. With repeated sampling over the past 20 years, we aim to reveal trends in hydrology and vegetation in a pristine boreal fen with gradient from rich to poor fen and bog vegetation. We resampled 203 semi-permanent plots and compared water-table depth (WTD), pH, concentrations of mineral elements, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), pl

SUBMITTER: Kolari THM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8216969 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature