%0 Research article
%T Macroscale variation in peat element concentrations in drained boreal peatland forests
%A Laiho, Raija
%A Sarkkola, Sakari
%A Kaunisto, Seppo
%A Laine, Jukka
%A Minkkinen, Kari
%D 2008
%J Silva Fennica
%V 42
%N 4
%R doi:10.14214/sf.233
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/233
%X Information on the variation in soil element concentrations at different  spatial scales is needed for, e.g., designing efficient sampling  strategies, upscaling the processes related to carbon cycling, and  planning land use and management. In spite of intensive land use, such  information concerning peat soils is still scarce. We analyzed the  variation in peat mineral element concentrations in boreal peatland  forests drained 50–60 years earlier. We wanted to quantify the  proportions of variation deriving from differences between regions and  peatland basins and from within-peatland heterogeneity, and to model the  variation using relatively easily measurable site and soil  characteristics. We utilized 878 peat samples representing the 0–20 cm  layer and collected from 289 sites in 79 peatland basins. The sites  represented three different drained peatland forest site types. The two  strongest gradients in the element composition captured by principal  component analysis were correlated with both the North-South gradient  and the site type variation, and the East-West gradient. In general,  most of the variation in the element concentrations was contributed by  differences among peatland basins, and variation within the  floristically determined sites. Most of the element concentrations were  best modeled when either the bulk density or the ash content of the  peat, or both, were used in addition to site type and geographical  location. The explanatory power remained modest for most element  concentrations. As for the P concentrations in soil, however, our models  provide means for estimating a large part of the variation among  drained pine mire sites.