Influence of the Surrounding Water Environment on Mire Vegetation

Abstract

Mires are loosing their natural state as a result of human activities. Recently natural Sphagnum mires in Hokkaido, Japan, have been disappearing as a result of the proliferation of alders. Here we show that such proliferation is caused by the inflow of phosphorous compounds as non-point pollutants. Those phosphorous compounds flow in from agricultural fields around mires. The constituents of groundwater or surface water make alders proliferate rapidly. Phosphorous, a typical non-point-polluting nutrient, contributes to the growth of alders, which assimilate atmospheric nitrogen.