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Mesisols developed dominantly from sphagnum ( riparium )
peat
which is usually underlain by mixed peat materials . These soils are
associated with collapse scar areas and are mapped as bog and fen
complexes .
Profile T 36D Typic Mesisol (Figure 3 & Appendix I : Table 3)
Of- 0 to 60 cm, yellowish-brown (l0YR 5/4, moist), undecomposed
sphagnum peat ; loose ; extremely acid ; unrubbed fiber content
92 percent ; clear, wavy boundary .
Om- 60 to 185 cm, black (l0YR 2/1, moist), moderately well
decomposed mixed peat ; amorphous ; strongly acid ; unrubbed
fiber content 34 percent ; clear, wavy boundary .
IICg- 185+ cm, medium. to fine sand .
Vegetation : Mesisols associated with fen type peatlands (see Figure 3)
are either covered with very open stands of stunted tamarack or are
completely devoid of tree cover . The shrub layer is dominated by
Betula glandulosa ,
Chamaedaphne calyculata while smaller amounts
of Salix sp . and Potentilla fruticosa , are also present . The herb layer
is dominated by Carex sp .
and Eriophorum spissum and the moss layer is
dominated by Drepanocladus sp . with Sphagnum spp . also being present
occasionally .
The vegetation on the perennially frozen peatlands
(see Figures
3
and 4), with the exception of peat polygons, is composed of a black
spruce dominated tree layer . In the shrub layer Ledum groenlandicum ,
L . decumbens, Empetrum nigrum , Rubus chamaemorus , Oxycoccus microcarpus
and Kalmia polifolia are the most common species .
The moss and the
lichen layer is dominated by Sphagnum fuscum , Dichranum undulatum ,
Polytrichum sp ., Cladonia alpestris , C . rangiferina and C . cornuta .
The vegetation on the wooded peat plateaus and wooded palsas in