Abstract
This study reports on the main effects of bombing and the subsequent regeneration of plant cover in a raised bog (KÕnnu-Suursoo) of North Estonia. Shell craters (0.6–1.3 m wide and 34 ± 12 cm deep; n = 30) have remained virtually unvegetated since bombing peak in the 1970s and ended about in 1992. Crater bottoms are often covered with dense layer of algae dominated by Zygogonium ericetorum, and there are only few individuals of vascular plants. The slopes of the deepest wet craters are colonized by Sphagnum species typical of hollows. Bog water temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration and peat decomposition in the crater bottoms are higher than in peat layers beneath the undisturbed area between the craters. The concentration of Al, Pb, Zn and Cu in the uppermost 25 cm of peat in the area between the craters exceeds that in the corresponding peat layers of reference areas by 1.5 ± 0.5, 1.7 ± 1.2, 1.8 ± 0.4 and 25.3 ± 15.9 times, respectively.
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Karofeld, E. Effects of bombing and regeneration of plant cover in Kõnnu-Suursoo raised bog, North Estonia. Wetlands Ecology and Management 6, 253–260 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008443115235
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008443115235