Vascular plant and moss species across successional mire basins on the land uplift coast of Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland

Succession of mirevegetation was studied in mirebasins providing uniform chronosequenceson the land uplift coast of the Bothnian Bay. The research was performed from transects crossing mirebasins with similar hydrology in order to highlight the occurrence on different mirespecies in catchment areas. Material from vegetation sample plots was used, central species for each altitude belt were presented. Also the differences between the mirebasins on moraineand sand were handled. On the miresunder 5 m asl, the vegetation is dominated by species typical for swamps and seashores. Most Sphagnumspecies spread to the mirebasins very quickly after the disappearance of the brackish sea-water effect. Along with the Sphagna are spreading most species typical for the mature hummock, lawnand carpet levels. The occurring of rich fen species seems to be closely connected with the groundwater dischargepattern. The study areas are situated on the coast of northern Bothnian Bay, where the developed miresystems are dominated by aapa mires. The results are compared with those from the more southern zone of bogs. The main difference seems to be the larger coverage of Sphagnummosses even on the wetter sites on the development of bogs.