Vegetation succession in a floating mire in relation to management and hydrology

The vegetation succession in a floating mire was studied in relation to management and hydrological conditions in a former peat cutting area in the northern part of the Netherlands. An existing map showed that in 1956 the vegetation consisted mainly of meadows, reedbeds and rich fen vegetation while a recent survey revealed that this picture had completely changed in 1989. The area had mainly become woodland but part had remained open, due to the continuation of a mowing regime. The timing of the mowing appears to be critical, especially during the earlier phases of the succession. Winter-mowing favours the development of eutrophic reedbeds, while summer-mowing promotes mesotrophic sedge communities. In the course of time these succession lines converge increasingly towards acidic vegetation types.The development from open water to embryonic bog differed greatly between sites with a similar management regime. Mostly this took only a few decades but in a few sites the vegetation had hardly changed since 1956. Whereas the former sites were acid throughout the profile, the latter showed a high pH from top to bottom. It is obvious that acidification does not occur as long as alkaline surface water can move freely underneath the floating mat. As soon as a given site becomes disconnected from the surface water the depletion of bases by infiltrating rainwater is no longer compensated. A rough estimate of the acidification rate shows that in an infiltration area three decades are sufficient for a floating mat of 40 cm to become completely decalcified. This corresponds well to the observed succession from rich fens to embryonic bogs in the same period. It is suggested that the best way to preserve rich fen vegetation is to start the succession anew by digging turf ponds.