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Drastic Turnover of Bryophyte Vegetation on Bog Microforms Initiated by Air Pollution in Northeastern Estonia and Bordering Russia

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Abstract

Human influence on bogs, including air pollution, causes changes in vegetation leading to the degradation of an ombrotrophic bog ecosystem into a more uniform transitional mire-like system. We have hypothesized that intensive atmospheric alkaline pollution will cause an increase in water pH and convergence of bryophyte species composition among microforms. We also expected that bog-specific acidophilic species will be replaced by species indigenous to neutral pH habitats. Through GLM and DCA analyses, we found that although natural acidic bogs are more species poor than polluted bogs, the increase in pH can lead to a decrease in bog-specific vegetation. In polluted bogs, the species composition in different bog microforms will become similar; in particular bog-specific Sphagnum mosses will be increasingly replaced by more tolerant brown mosses, particularly in lawns.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Nele Ingerpuu for her help during fieldwork. This study was financed by the Centre of Excellence FIBIR and the target-financing projects SF0180012s09, SF0180025s12 and RP1LMBOTK. Marinus L. Otte and two reviewers provided useful comments on the manuscript. Robert Szava-Kovats and Rodney G. O. Burton helped to improve the English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, Tartu, 51005, Estonia

    Kai Vellak, Jaan Liira, Edgar Karofeld & Jaanus Paal

  2. St Petersburg State University, Vasiljevsky Ostrov, 10 Liniya 33-35, 199178, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Olga Galanina & Maria Noskova

Authors
  1. Kai Vellak
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  2. Jaan Liira
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  3. Edgar Karofeld
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  6. Jaanus Paal
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Correspondence to Kai Vellak.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 5 List of bryophyte species, their vegetation type: B–bog; F–fen (according to Ingerpuu et al. 2014) and microform preference in studied sites
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Vellak, K., Liira, J., Karofeld, E. et al. Drastic Turnover of Bryophyte Vegetation on Bog Microforms Initiated by Air Pollution in Northeastern Estonia and Bordering Russia. Wetlands 34, 1097–1108 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-014-0569-3

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