Vegetation patterns around Eriophorum vaginatum L. tussocks in a cut-away peatland in southern Finland

We studied the vegetation patterns around cottongrass tussocks with varying characteristics in a cut-away peatland 20 years after abandonment. When the effect of water table level variation was eliminated, the remaining variation in vegetation was related to (i) tussock characteristics and (ii) distance and orientation from a particular tussock. Logit regression showed a positive interaction between distance from the base of a tussock and a tussock's sheltering properties for all the studied plant species, indicating that the smaller the tussock the nearer plants have to be to find a favourable microsite. A southerly direction, which is the most exposed to solar irradiation, was the most inhospitable microsite. Our results indicated that cottongrass tussocks may offer a variety of microsites for colonizers with varying ecological requirements.Key words: cut-away peatland, colonization, Eriophorum vaginatum, facilitation, logit models, ordination.