Successional pathways and trophic specialisation of different groups of organisms in formerly extracted raised bogs – Restoration and conservation perspectives.

Central European raised bogs are valuable habitats inhabited by highly adapted peatland specialists, so-called tyrphobionts and tyrphotolerants. Many of them have been destroyed by drainage and peat extraction. After such strong disturbance, the entire biota is deeply influenced, and recovery to a pre-disturbance state may be limited. This study shows successional trends in the recovery of vegetation, fungi, and Lepidoptera in two disturbed raised bogs comparing with reference. After three decades of spontaneous development, the species composition did not match the reference natural bogs in any of the studied taxonomic groups; however, all groups responded in a very similar way to the disturbance. Alternative communities with low peatland specialists developed. Each taxonomic group was influenced by similar environmental factors, mostly by remaining peat, water table, and successional age, while successional age and pH were the most important factors for peatland specialists. If all species were considered, we found an increasing pattern in trophic specialisation during the succession. As successional age is one of the most important factor, restoration measures should be taken as soon as possible, otherwise the site will not be inhabited by peatland specialists. Generally, peatland specialists should be focused more on in restoration projects, but also dominant plant species are important because they are associated with most fungal and Lepidoptera species. Restoration will be more successful if a thicker layer of peat is left after peat extraction, and water table has returned to pre-draining conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]