(1) Logged Picea mariana-dominant stands in lowland north-eastern Ontario, Canada, were surveyed to examine patterns of vegetation recolonization and to assess the extent of successional return towards the pre-logged condition. (2) A data table of 244 plant species in 122 stands, incorporating a chronosequence spanning 56 years, was analysed by two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN). This yielded four stand classes; two primary groups representing stands of nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor sites and two subgroups where stands had been logged either using horseskidding methods or by mechanical wheel skidding. (3) Ordination by detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of the same data supported the TWINSPAN results. Separate ordinations of data from the horse and wheelskidded stands showed little relationship between variation in vegetation composition and time since logging, indicating that the nature of the disturbance was important in determining subsequent vegetation cover. However, successional trends could not be ruled out because stand age and skidding were confounded. (4) Comparison of the four logged stand groups with five groups (sixty-nine stands) of unlogged wetland forest vegetation from the same region yielded a strong two-gradient model related to site nutrient regime and intensity of disturbance and/or time elapsed since disturbance. This is interpreted in terms of site nutrient status, skidding method and nonconvergent successional pathways. (5) Although firstly, compositional change with time was ascribed primarily to the moss species in earlier postfire studies, post-logging lree recruitment was low in all stands, which will have inhibited moss establishment. However, the understorey rhizomatous perennial vascular plants of the pre-logged forest had resprouted and persisted in the open for many years. (6) Secondly, competitive broadleaved shrub species had invaded and dominated for a long period on the mechanically-skidded, nutrient-rich sites. (7) Thirdly, exposed peat remained uncolonized for several years on the mechanicallyskidded, nutrient-poor sites, because only slow growing, nutrient stress-tolerant plants can survive in such habitats. (8) A graphical model, predicting the recolonization patterns of the major plant groups of logged, boreal wetland forest sites in central Canada, is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]