Bog
A bog or bogland is a
Bogs occur where the water at the ground surface is acidic and low in nutrients. A bog usually is found at a freshwater soft spongy ground that is made up of decayed plant matter which is known as peat. They are generally found in cooler northern climates and are formed in poorly draining lake basins.[6] In contrast to fens, they derive most of their water from precipitation rather than mineral-rich ground or surface water.[7] Water flowing out of bogs has a characteristic brown colour, which comes from dissolved peat tannins. In general, the low fertility and cool climate result in relatively slow plant growth, but decay is even slower due to low oxygen levels in saturated bog soils. Hence, peat accumulates. Large areas of the landscape can be covered many meters deep in peat.[1][8]
Bogs have distinctive assemblages of animal, fungal, and plant species, and are of high importance for biodiversity, particularly in landscapes that are otherwise settled and farmed.
Distribution and extent
Bogs are widely distributed in cold,
Definition
Like all wetlands, it is difficult to rigidly define bogs for a number of reasons, including variations between bogs, the in-between nature of wetlands as an intermediate between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and varying definitions between wetland classification systems.[13][14] However, there are characteristics common to all bogs that provide a broad definition:[7]
- Peat is present, usually thicker than 30 cm.
- The wetland receives most of its water and nutrients from precipitation (ombrotrophic) rather than surface or groundwater (minerotrophic).
- The wetland is nutrient-poor (oligotrophic).
- The wetland is strongly acidic (bogs near coastal areas may be less acidic due to sea spray).
Because all bogs have peat, they are a type of peatland. As a peat-producing ecosystem, they are also classified as
Ecology and protection
There are many highly specialized animals, fungi, and plants associated with bog habitat. Most are capable of tolerating the combination of low nutrient levels and waterlogging.
Bogs are recognized as a significant/specific habitat type by a number of governmental and conservation agencies. They can provide habitat for mammals, such as
The
]Bogs are fragile ecosystems, and have been deteriorating quickly, as archaeologists and scientists have been recently finding. Bone material found in bogs has had accelerated deterioration from first analyses in the 1940s.[23] This has been found to be from fluctuations in ground water and increase in acidity[24] in lower areas of bogs that is affecting the rich organic material. Many of these areas have been permeated to the lowest levels with oxygen, which dries and cracks layers. There have been some temporary solutions to try and fix these issues, such as adding soil to the tops of threatened areas, yet they do not work in the long-term.[23] Extreme weather like dry summers are likely the cause, as they lower precipitation and the groundwater table. It is speculated that these issues will only increase with a rise in global temperature and climate change. Since bogs take thousands of years to form and create the rich peat that is used as a resource, once they are gone they are extremely hard to recover. Arctic and sub-Arctic circles where many bogs are warming at 0.6 °C per decade, an amount twice as large as the global average. Because bogs and other peatlands are carbon sinks, they are releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases as they warm up.[25] These changes have resulted in a severe decline of biodiversity and species populations of peatlands throughout Northern Europe.[23]
Types
Bog habitats may develop in various situations, depending on the climate and topography[26] (see also hydrosere succession).
By location and water source
Bogs may be classified on their topography, proximity to water, method of recharge, and nutrient accumulation .[27]
Valley bog
These develop in gently sloping valleys or hollows. A layer of peat fills the deepest part of the valley, and a stream may run through the surface of the bog. Valley bogs may develop in relatively dry and warm climates, but because they rely on ground or surface water, they only occur on acidic substrates.[citation needed][clarification needed]
Raised bog
These develop from a lake or flat
The various types of raised bog may be divided into:
- Coastal bog
- Plateau bog
- Upland bog
- Kermi bog
- String bog
- Palsa bog
- Polygonal bog
Blanket bog
In cool climates with consistently high rainfall (on more than c. 235 days a year), the ground surface may remain waterlogged for much of the time, providing conditions for the development of bog
Quaking bog
A quaking bog, schwingmoor, or swingmoor is a form of floating bog occurring in wetter parts of valley bogs and raised bogs and sometimes around the edges of acidic lakes. The bog vegetation, mostly
Cataract bog
A cataract bog is a rare ecological community formed where a permanent stream flows over a granite outcropping. The sheeting of water keeps the edges of the rock wet without eroding the soil, but in this precarious location, no tree or large shrub can maintain a roothold. The result is a narrow, permanently wet habitat.[14]
Uses
Industrial uses
After drying, peat is used as a fuel, and it has been used that way for centuries. More than 20% of home heat in Ireland comes from peat, and it is also used for fuel in Finland, Scotland, Germany, and Russia. Russia is the leading exporter of peat for fuel, at more than 90 million metric tons per year. Ireland's Bord na Móna ("peat board") was one of the first companies to mechanically harvest peat, which is being phased out.[30]
The other major use of dried peat is as a
Once the peat has been extracted it can be difficult to restore the wetland, since peat accumulation is a slow process.[4][31][32] More than 90% of the bogs in England have been damaged or destroyed.[33][34] In 2011 plans for the elimination of peat in gardening products were announced by the UK government.[4]
Other uses
The peat in bogs is an important place for the storage of carbon. If the peat decays, carbon dioxide would be released to the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Undisturbed, bogs function as a carbon sink.[4][35][36] As one example, the peatlands of the former Soviet Union were calculated to be removing 52 Tg of carbon per year from the atmosphere.[21]: 41 Therefore, the rewetting of drained peatlands may be one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate climate change.[37]
Peat bogs are also important in storing fresh water, particularly in the headwaters of large rivers. Even the enormous
: fig. 13.8Archaeology
The anaerobic environment and presence of
Image gallery
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Sphagnum withnorthern pitcher plants at Brown's Lake Bog, Ohio, US
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A bog in Ostfriesland
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Bog-wood and boulders at the Stumpy Knowe near South Auchenmade, Ayrshire, Scotland
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Bog with October morning mist in Mukri, Estonia
See also
- Blackwater river – Slow-moving, dark-colored river flowing through forested swamps or wetlands
- Bog body – Corpse preserved in a bog
- Bog butter – Ancient substance found in peat bogs
- Bog iron – Form of iron ore deposited in bogs
- Irish Peatland Conservation Council
- Kerry bog slides – 2008 series of bogslides in County Kerry, Ireland
- Kettle bog – Depression or hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters
- List of bogs
- Paludification – ecological process of peatland formation
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0521739672.
- ISBN 978-1574412147
- ^ Texas Parks and Wildlife. Ecological Mapping Systems of Texas: "West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall". Retrieved 7 July 2020
- ^ a b c d e Rosenthal, Elisabeth (6 October 2012). "British Soil Is Battlefield Over Peat, for Bogs' Sake". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
- ^ "Peatlands and climate change". IUCN. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
- ^ "Bog". Education | National Geographic Society. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
- ^ OCLC 861559248.
- S2CID 129085635.
- ^ ISBN 9780521834049.
- ^ Adamovich, Alexander (2005). "Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profiles: Latvia". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ Smith, David (27 May 2014). "Peat bog as big as England found in Congo". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- OCLC 78893363.
- ^ OCLC 801405617.
- S2CID 84241035. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ISBN 978-0521864800.
- ISBN 978-0-412-44290-2.
- ISBN 0534044824. See figure 13.3.
- S2CID 90491294.
- ISSN 1568-5381.
- ^ ISBN 9780521834049.
- ^ "Russian Zapovedniks and National Parks". Russian Nature. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
- ^ PMID 32726345.
- .
- S2CID 4460926.
- JSTOR 2260697.
- doi:10.1139/b86-055.
- PMID 21237035.
- ^ Appleton, Andrea (6 March 2018). "How Do You Solve a Problem Like a Giant Floating Bog?". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
- ^ de Róiste, Daithí (5 October 2015). "Bord na Móna announces biggest change of land use in modern Irish history". Bord na Móna. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- S2CID 42590665.
- .
- ^ "Insight into threatened peat bogs". BBC News. 31 July 2004. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
- ^ "Destruction of peat bogs". RSPB. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
- S2CID 2701885.
- ^ Loisel, Julie; Gallego-Sala, Angela (21 December 2020). "Guest post: How human activity threatens the world's carbon-rich peatlands". Carbon Brief. Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ Mandel, Martti (10 November 2018). "Interview: Rewetting Peatlands to Cut Emissions". EUKI. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ Taylor, Richard B, "THE EFFECTS OF OFF-ROAD VEHICLES ON ECOSYSTEMS," 2001.
- ISBN 978-0571270903.
- ^ a b "Welcome to the story of the Tollundman". Silkeborg Museum.
- S2CID 238030730.
- JSTOR 30001649.
Bibliography
- Aiton, William (1811). General View of The Agriculture of the County of Ayr; observations on the means of its improvement; drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture, and Internal Improvements, with Beautiful Engravings. Glasgow.
External links
- Ballynahone Bog Archived 19 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- Black Spruce Bog Describes a forested bog type of North America
- Bog bodies
- Germany's Endangered Bogs - slideshow by Der Spiegel
- 'Preserve peat bogs' for climate BBC 28 March 2007
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .
- The American Cyclopædia. 1879. .