Development of ombrotrophic raised bogs in North-east Germany 17 years after the adoption of a protective program

作者：Boensel Andre; Sonneck Anne Gesine

来源：Wetlands Ecology and Management, 2012, 20(6): 503-520.

DOI：10.1007/s11273-012-9272-4

• Climate change
• Cut-over raised bogs
• Water table
• Hydrological protection zone
• Lagg area
• Sphagnum

The present study reports on the development of ombrotrophic raised bogs in NE Germany after the adoption of a protective program with a focus on the hydrological and floristic changes in two simultaneously restored cut-over bogs as a reference for all other bogs. At the moment, four fifths of the bogs area is dominated by woody vegetation forms and %26lt; 5 % is characterized by typical raised bog vegetation. The trend of increasing areas with woody vegetation forms and decreasing areas with vegetation typical for ombrotrophic raised bogs could not be prevented despite increasing the portion of revitalized areas. The reason for the negative developments is founded in the different types of raised bogs in NE Germany, which differ in regard to the historical lagg area and the original grown up raised peat body. This as well as the kind and intensity of anthropogenic use have significant implications for the possibilities of revitalization and protection. Except for those bogs where no peat remnants remain, the revitalization of cut-over raised bogs in NE Germany can succeed if an almost closed hydrological protection zone (HPZ which is equal to the historical lagg area) is established so that the gradient of entire lateral water flow between the higher lying peat remnant and the lower lying surrounding area is reduced. The attainment of a lateral water flow gradient comparable to the original state and of a water-saturated peat body succeeds in turn in the precondition for growing Sphagnum species, which readjust the system%26apos;s self regulation. The comparison of two bogs with similar preconditions concerning location, climate, and anthropogenic transformation has shown that an incompletely closed HPZ is one important reason for the decreasing portion of intact raised bogs with their typical vegetation. The influence of climate change on current hydrological and floristic changes in NE German ombrotrophic raised bogs has less influence on the success of revitalization than the historic grown type of bog and the intensity of anthropogenic use.

• 出版日期2012-12