Bog biotopes

Bogs are wetlands. Here, where the constant abundance of water from rain or soil water prevents the complete decomposition of plants which leads to peat soil being created. The Müritz National Park disposes of a large variety of bogs, which all belong to the group of fens, the most typical kind of bog in Europe. Due to relatively nutrient-rich conditions, its vegetation is considered species-rich. Fens are characterised by the fact that they are solely influenced by ground, spring or leak water and therefore primarily develop in pits or dips. Some areas in the Müritz National Park become marshy by a slow but constant rise of the ground-water level, other bogs are created by man, for example by a siltation of shallow lakes.

During GDR times, the bogs of the national park have recurringly been dried by drains, resulting in an extreme lowering of the whole area's ground-water level - an attempt to transform the area to something suitable for agriculture. Within the framework of the EU-Life program, the contemporary administration of the national park intents to raise the ground-water level up to its natural standard and to re-saturate drained wetlands. This process then brings about the dieback of birch trees which had spread during the dry period. Without further human action this shall accelerate the return of the original natural flora.