Picea mire woodland

These are coniferous woodlands of shallow to deep peats and peaty mineral soils sustained by high ground water in gentle depressions on plains, on river terraces and at the margins of treeless mires throughout the boreal and more locally in the nemoral zones. Picea mire woodland can occur on ombrotrophic active bog surface on deep peat, but is more often found on minerotrophic peats or on shallower peaty soils at mire margins, though in drier regions being more extensive on the mire surface. Tree cover can be sparse with low-growing individuals when the associated flora is very similar to the open bog or mire surface while, under more closed canopies, shade-tolerant species prevail. An uneven age structure among the trees is characteristic of natural sites. Picea abies tends to be the canopy dominant in extensive stands on a hummock-dominated peat surface, or sometimes a more pronounced hummock-hollow micro-topography on the peat surface. Sometimes Abies alba is (co-)dominant in more minerotrophic conditions. Betula pubescens, Pinus sylvestris and Salix spp. are common associates sometimes with Alnus glutinosa and A. incana admixed in somewhat less oligotrophic situations. Picea abies ssp.obovata is a dominant subspecies vicariating with P. abies ssp. abies  in northeastern parts of Europe. The field layer has such dwarf shrubs as Vaccinium myrtillus, V. vitis-idaea, V. uliginosum, V. oxycoccos, Ledum palustre, Chamaedaphne calyculata, with herbs and sedges like Melampyrum pratense, Rubus chamaemorus, Eriophorum vaginatum, Carex globularis as well as  peat-forming Sphagna like S. angustifolium, S. centrale, S. girgensohnii,  S. palustre,  S. magellanicum and S. russowii with big pleurocarpous mosses on drier hummocks. In more mesothrophic conditions, herbs like Equisetum sylvaticum, Dryopteris carthusiana, Trientalis europaea, and graminoids like Calamagrostis purpurea, Carex canescens and Carex loliacea are common. Trickles of moving water can even sustain species such as Calla palustris, Menyanthes trifoliata, Equisetum fluviatile, E. palustre and Comarum palustre.

Indicators of quality:

•       No forest exploitations.

•       Intact natural mire hydrology.

•       Natural composition of canopy with dominant Picea spp.

•       Structural diversity/ -complexity with (semi)natural age structure or completeness of layers.

•       Presence of old trees and a variety of dead wood (lying or standing) and the associated flora, fauna and fungi.

•       Presence of natural disturbance such as treefall openings with natural regeneration.

•       Long historical continuity (ancient woodland) with high species diversity.

•       Survival of larger stands of forest without anthropogenic fragmentation and isolation.

•       Absence of non-native species in all layers (flora and fauna).

•       No signs of eutrophication or pollution.

Synthesis of Red List assessment

Confidence in the assessment

Pressures and threats