Composition and structure of plant communities in milled peatlands during the post-disturbance successions: a case study from the Rossyanka Carbon Supersite, Kaliningrad, Russia

Abstract

Nine plant community types were identified in the central part of the Vittgirrensky Peat­land (designated the Rossyanka Carbon Supersite). All community types represent succes­sional stages of vegetation development on areas transformed by peat milling. Data on the structure and species composition of communities are provided, along with typical phytoso­ciological descriptions for each vegetation variant. Physiognomically, the plant communities on the milled fields consist of low-stature tree stands with varying canopy closure, mainly dominated by Betula pendula, but they exhibit substantial differences in the composition of herb-shrub and moss cover. The described community types are considered as non-hierarchical units in the classification of vegetation cover (at the micro-landscape level). Their identification through electronic and field mapping methods allows for a rapid visualization of the vegetation cover's characteristics on a map and enables its quantitative assessment, which is of practical importance for the purposes of the carbon supersite.