Mires’ vegetation structure on accumulative glacial uplands of southern Karelia

The presence of numerous small scale mires (less than 100 ha) on the territory of Karelia is rather common for this territory. According to our research most of the small size mires are understudied. The goal of our research was to evaluate the state of floral diversity and vegetation communities in small mires of accumulative glacial uplands located in southern Karelia. The research results of the floral and geobotanical studies on 48 mires of Veshkelskii and Vohtozerskii accumulative glacial uplands are presented. The checklist of mires’ flora includes 127 species of vascular plants and 54 species of moss. 12 associations of plant communities were defined using the topological-ecological approach. The detrended correspondence analysis helped to allocate associations in gradients of ecological factors reflecting both the nutrient status and moisture characteristic of the habitats. Ombrotrofic plant communities are located on mires in closed hollows with no outflow. Oligotrophic and mesotrophic plant communities are located on mires with flow-through hollows.