Sphagnum beothuk new to Sweden

Abstract

Sphagnum beothuk was recently found new to Europe in Norway as the dark morph of Sphagnum fuscum proved to be conspecific with the north american S. beothuk. The Norwegian distribution suggests that it may also occur in other oceanic parts of northwestern Europe. In 2016, I made a brief survey of a number of mires in the province of Bohuslän in the westernmost part of Sweden. In three bogs, I found only S. fuscum, but in one bog this species co-occurred with S. beothuk. This implies that S. fuscum is the most common of the two species in the suboceanic part of Sweden. However, to determine the actual frequency and distribution of S. beothuk, a more extensive survey of bogs in the westernmost part of Sweden is required.