The question posed in the article title looks tautological or far-fetched. However, the literature and authors’ data on the phytomass and carbon/nitrogen flows in the climax Eriophorum–Sphagnum pine forest in raised bogs open the possibility of constructing and applying the simplest possible balance model of nitrogen stocks and flows, considering the raised bog ecosystem closed in terms of nitrogen. Applying the model to the real data that represent (according to the authors of the relevant sources) the climax state of the ecosystem reveals a discrepancy with the balance. This prompts us to look for the causes of the discrepancy in the field studies. Of greatest interest for the verification of the model will be field data on pine tree mortality and stock and decomposition rates (flow) of coarse woody debris (CWD). Thus, the model does play its methodological role, despite all its deliberate simplicity.
Logofet et al. (Sun,) studied this question.