This vegetation type is dominated by Betula pubescens, but other trees and shrubs adapted to wet acidic soils can also occur. The herb layer is often dominated by the grass Molinia caerulea while peatland species such as Vaccinium oxycoccos and V. uliginosum are also common. The well developed moss layer is dominated by Sphagnum spp., accompanied by mosses typical of mineral forest soils. This vegetation develops on wet organic soils in mire complexes, usually in a mosaic of various types of open mire vegetation and coniferous peatland forests. Peatland birch forests develop on wetter sites than peatland pine forests. They often represent young stages of forest succession on peatlands, e.g. on margins of open mires or after disturbance of previously forested sites on peat. In the Czech Republic the stands of this association are scattered in mountain areas and basins with peatland formation.