This review of research on nutrient circulation performed in the Tornetrask area, showed that the living phytomass in various ecosystem types there contained between 5 and 30% of the ecosystem pools of biologically fixed N and P. From 4% to a maximum of 14% of the ecosystem N was in leaves and fine root biomass, ie in plant tissues with turnover times <10 yr. Atmospheric nutrient deposition and nitrogen fixation were important sources of nutrients to annual primary productivity in mires. The mineralization rate of N and P was low and the soil microbes immobilzed nutrients efficiently. -from Authors