Human impact on a paludified landscape in northern Estonia

The area studied is situated on the territory of the North-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve in northern Estonia. During the last century, the human impact on the small mire and its surroundings was reconstructed based on the palaeoecological studies of the peat sediment sequence and on reconstructions compared with the historical data. The results of investigations demonstrate that the peat sequence can be used as a palaeoecological document to study the changes in the atmospheric influx of heavy metals and pollen on the surface of the raised bog and its response to different kinds of disturbances (forest fires, clear-cut, long-term stressors like bombing) in the vicinity. Using a variety of methods, it was possible to follow the changes directly on the mire and in the nearest vicinity.