Acidity of and the concentrations of major and minor metals in the surface waters of bryophyte assemblages from 20 North American bogs and fens

One hundred and thirty-five samples of surface water, associated with bryophyte plots distributed across 20 wetlands in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alaska, Maine, Minnesota, and New York, were analyzed for pH and 11 elements, several of them seldom measured in wetlands. The overall order of elemental abundance was the following: Ca, Si, Na, Mg, Fe, K, Al, Mn, Sr, Ba, and Ti. Principal-components analysis of the pH and elemental chemistries of the water samples revealed seven subcategories that could be recognized as belonging to maritime and continental ombrotrophic bogs and poor, rich, and calcareous rich fens. The primary axis related to pH and the concentrations of alkaline earths, as well as to Si. The secondary axis segregated an unusual group of Alaskan fens; it was related mainly to Fe and Mn, and to a lesser degree Al and K. The tertiary axis separated maritime from continental bogs and was related chiefly to Na. The distribution of bryophyte species, most of them widespread in bogs and fens elsewhere, was most clearly related to pH and Ca concentration. As expected, many species exhibited narrow ranges of these chemical properties, whereas many others were widely distributed.