Into the Mire: A Floristic and Ecology Informed Field Guide of Stordalen Mire

Abstract

Plant communities are often used as a basis for ecosystem studies, as they both greatly impact, and are greatly impacted by environmental interactions. Vegetation in the Arctic is particularly sensitive to disruptions in temperature and water regimes, altering vegetation and thus species diversity, composition, productivity, structure, and biomass. Species have differential responses to regime shifts due to unique tissue types, nutrient composition, plasticity, and production and growth strategies. Accounting for these traits and processes in vegetation may aid in understanding ecosystem level problems, especially when such studies are conducted in a cross-disciplinary framework. Stordalen Mire in Abisko, Sweden is impacted by climate-mediated permafrost thaw, driving shifts in soil moisture, nutrient availability, and the composition of plant and microbial communities. Due to the topographical and hydrological heterogeneity of Stordalen, the distribution of the species is influenced by patch dynamics creating a mosaic of ecological subsections across the landscape -- each with a differing composition of plants and their traits. This guide is motivated by the value brought by knowledge of individual plant taxa and their traits, and the ways their reactions to change will affect both vegetation and broader processes in ecosystem functioning. Additionally, it provides a resource for scientists conducting studies related to plants by including a species list compiled through the literature, and identification information for some of the most common and influential species on Stordalen Mire. Of the 43 species recorded at Stordalen Mire, 26 are vascular plants and 17 are bryophyte species. These species are members of 26 genera, representing 21 families. Recent studies have called for examining immediate, subsequent, and long-term effects of climate on vegetation shifts – both on individual species and species assemblages. Literature reviews of these species have revealed patterns in phenology, physiology, competition, nutrient cycling, carbon fluxes, microbiome interactions, etc., providing a plethora of future directions of research.