The mineral content of sphagnum fuscum as affected by human settlement

Windblown soil from cultivated farmland is the chief influence upon the ash content of Sphagnum fuscum in ombrotrophic bogs, which are dependent upon the atmosphere for their mineral supply , in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Saskatchewan. Bogs unaffected by human settlement and the resultant increase in the mineral supply are restricted to the wilderness areas in the northeastern part of Minnesota. Sphagnum serves as an effective trap for dust fall and is much richer in the lithophile elements Al and Fe than the needles of tamarack from comparable habitats. Dust fall may be readily washed off the tree needles by rain. Tamarack concentrates B to a much greater degree than does Sphagnum. (Howard-Mass)