International efforts to alleviate the problem of mercury in the environment are focused on reducing Hg deposition. However, it seems
doubtful that these efforts will lessen the burden on Swedish fish, since so much Hg has already accumulated in the superficial
organic soils of peatlands. But Hg can evade as a gas. Without knowing the land-atmosphere exchange of Hg from peatlands we
cannot predict how effective efforts to cut Hg emissions will be in achieving a timely reduction in the pool of Hg in these peatlands
and ultimately the loading of MeHg from peatlands to surface waters. Here we propose the first study to define the land-atmosphere
exchange from a boreal mire. We aim to test the hypothesis that current estimates of the time it will take for reduced Hg emissions to
translate into lower Hg levels in boreal fish are far too long because the exchange of Hg between the peat surface and the
atmosphere has been ignored. This test will be made by I) The first quantification of seasonal land-atmosphere exchange of Hg
over a boreal peatland II) The first long term application of the relaxed eddy accumulation technique for Hg III) Defining the
influence of warming and changed moisture regimes, as well atmospheric pollutants on Hg evasion to the atmosphere from a
peatland.