Chemical Aspects of the Ecology of Some South German Peatlands

(1) The concentration of inorganic constituLents of mire vegetation and the underlying peat at fifty sites in southern Germany is related to the fen-bog vegetation gradient. (2) The concentration of soluble NH'-N was lowest in peat from fens and greatest in peat from bogs. The trend for soluble NO--N in peat was the reverse. (3) The lowest concentration of P04-P in vegetation was in bogs, but in peat from these same sites the concentration of easily soluble P04-P was greatest. This is a widespread feature in natural peatlands. (4) Concentration of total Ca, Mg, and K was greatest in peat and vegetation from fens, and lowest in bogs. The concentration of exchangeable Ca and Mg in peat reflected that of total concentration, except that exchangeable K had a reverse trend with the highest concentration in bog peat. (5) The concentration in vegetation of all heavy metals except Zn and Cu was highest in plants from bogs. (6) The Ca/Mg quotient in ombrotrophic peat ranged from 1-8-5 2. The highest value was in the mire complex receiving the greatest precipitation. (7) The gradient from poor fen to bog is most closely mirrored by the decline in concentration of K in the standing crop.