Plant succession in a peatland in the Eastern Carpathian Mts. (CE Europe) during the last 10,200 years: Implications for peatland development and palaeoclimatic research

Abstract

Mountain ombrotrophic peatlands in Central Europe host many protected and rare plant species. However, knowledge of the development of mountain peatlands and the past distribution of wetland plants is poorly documented. Here we used high-resolution, contiguous plant macrofossils analysis of two distinct cores taken from central and marginal parts of a small mountain peatland (Poiana Ştiol) in the Eastern Carpathians and provide a long-term reconstruction of local vegetation dynamics. We distinguished several phases of peatland development, including: lake stage, rich fen and poor fen. Numerous Potamogeton species, Batrachium sp. and Chara sp. were the pioneer plants of a shallow eutrophic lake. Plant succession in central and marginal parts of peatland proceeds in a different way. After a fen stage cyclic succession, various species of Sphagnum and Eriophorum vaginatum were documented in both cores. However, between ca. 7700 and 4700cal yr BP Sphagnum magellanicum, Sphagnum angustifolium and E. vaginatum alternately dominated the local plant community in the central part of the peatland. In contrast, an alternating dominance of Sphagnum russowii, S. magellanicum, S. angustifolium and E. vaginatum was observed during the last 1200years in the marginal part of the site. These variable successions of Sphagnum species and E. vaginatum appear to primarily be a result of climate changes and autogenic processes in peatland vegetation. Fossil remains of several rare and endangered species presently considered as glacial relicts in Southern Europe, e.g. Paludella squarrosa and Meesia triquetra, were discovered for the first time in this part of Europe.