Boreal forest reserve near Gällivare

Scots pine, Norway spruce and various birch create the overstory in the Swedish boreal forest

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Boreal Scots pine/Norway Spruce Forest

The understory is predominanty composed of dwarf shrubs (Vaccinium spp., Empetrum hemaphroditum, and Calluna vulgaris) with a feather moss bottom layer that can account for up to 90% cover of the forest floor.  The two dominant feather rmosses are Pleurozium schreberi and Hylocomium splendens. 

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Pleurozium schreberi up close

Measuring N2 fixation in situ

Tubes of feather moss in a headspace of acetylene incubated on site for 24 hours

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Fire

Fire is a dominant driver of ecosystem processes and results in a resetting of the successional clock.

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30 years after fire

   

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120 years after fire

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230 years after fire

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