Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. Sphagnum moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most common components in peat, although many other plants can contribute. The biological features of sphagnum mosses act to create a habitat aiding peat formation, a phenomenon termed 'habitat manipulation'. Soils consisting primarily of peat are known as histosols. Peat forms in wetland conditions, where flooding or stagnant water obstructs the flow of oxygen from the atmosphere, slowing the rate of decomposition. Peat properties such as organic matter content and saturated hydraulic conductivity can exhibit high spatial heterogeneity.
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials – often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; alkaline mires are called fens. A bayhead is another type of bog found in the forest of the Gulf Coast states in the United States. They are often covered in heath or heather shrubs rooted in the sphagnum moss and peat. The gradual accumulation of decayed plant material in a bog functions as a carbon sink.
RSPB Leighton Moss is a nature reserve in Lancashire, England, which has been in the care of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds since 1964. It is situated near Silverdale, Carnforth, on the edge of Morecambe Bay and in the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Risley Moss is an area of peat bog situated near Birchwood in Warrington, England. It is a country park, Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Nature Reserve. It covers an area of 210.5 acres (85.2 ha) and is one of the last remaining fragments of the raised bogs that once covered large areas of South Lancashire and North Cheshire.
Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up part of the City of Salford, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It also makes up part of Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside and Warrington in Cheshire. North of the Manchester Ship Canal and River Mersey, 5 miles (8 km) to the west of Manchester, it occupies an area of about 10.6 square miles (27.5 km2).
Blackrod is a town and civil parish situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Nestled in the historic County of Lancashire, Blackrod is positioned 3.9 miles (6.3 km) northeast of Wigan and 6.6 miles (10.6 km) west of Bolton. According to the United Kingdom Census of 2021, the town has a population of 5,345.
Downholland is a civil parish in Lancashire, England, on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The population at the 2011 census was 913. The area contains several villages including Haskayne, Barton and Downholland Cross, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the A5147. It also contains attractions such as Farmer Ted’s.
Castle Bytham quarry is a disused quarry located close to the centre of the village of Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire, England. It is famous for the exposure of Laeviuscula Zone ammonite fauna has allowed the dating of the Upper Lincolnshire limestone formation to the Bajocian era, and thereby dating other deposits around Europe.
Brighton to Newhaven Cliffs is a 165.4-hectare (409-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Geological Conservation Review site, which stretches along the coast between Brighton and Newhaven in East Sussex. An area of 16.4 hectares is the Castle Hill, Newhaven Local Nature Reserve
Red Moss is a wetland mossland in Greater Manchester, located south of Horwich and east of Blackrod. This is a national Site of Special Scientific Interest in the United Kingdom, due to its biodiversity and undisturbed character. Pollen analysis has revealed the first peat deposits of the northwest's mosslands to be from around 8,000 years BC making Red Moss an impressive 10,000 years old. Red Moss covers an area of 47.2 hectares. A severed female head was discovered in Red Moss in the 19th century dating from the Bronze Age or early Iron Age.
Astley and Bedford Mosses are areas of peat bog south of the Bridgewater Canal and north of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. They are situated about 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) south-east of Leigh, in Astley and Bedford, Greater Manchester, England. They are among the last remaining fragments of Chat Moss, the raised bog that once covered a large area, of around 10+2⁄3 square miles (28 km2), south Lancashire north of the River Mersey. Astley Moss was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1989. Astley and Bedford Mosses, along with Risley Moss and Holcroft Moss, are part of Manchester Mosses, a European Union designated Special Area of Conservation.
Phoenix United Mine is a disused 19th century copper and tin mine in Cornwall, England, UK. Heavy metals left over in the soil from the mining operations have allowed mosses and lichens to flourish, and today the site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological characteristics.
Downholland is a civil parish in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It contains eight listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. All the listed buildings are designated at Grade II, the lowest of the three grades, which is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The parish contains the villages of Barton, Haskayne and Downholland Cross, and is otherwise rural. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through the parish. Two milestones by the towpath of the canal are listed, and the other listed buildings are houses and associated structures.
Bolter End Sand Pit is a 0.33-hectare (0.82-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Bolter End Common in Buckinghamshire.
Blawhorn Moss is a raised bog located to the northwest of the village of Blackridge, about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) west of Armadale in the council area of West Lothian in central Scotland. It is the largest and least disturbed raised bog in the Lothians, and has been a National Nature Reserve since 1980. It is owned and managed by NatureScot, the public body responsible for Scotland's natural heritage.
Many parts of Scotland are protected in accordance with a number of national and international designations because of their environmental, historical or cultural value. Protected areas can be divided according to the type of resource which each seeks to protect. NatureScot has various roles in the delivery of many environmental designations in Scotland, i.e. those aimed at protecting flora and fauna, scenic qualities and geological features. Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designations that protect sites of historic and cultural importance. Some international designations, such as World Heritage Sites, can cover both categories of site.
The Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands is a large area of blanket bog and peatland, covering a number of disconnected regions across the historic counties of Caithness and Sutherland in the far north of Scotland, across an area known as the Flow Country. With a total area of 143,503 hectares, it is one of the largest recognised conservation sites in the UK, and is the largest Ramsar Site in Scotland.
Skipwith Common is a national nature reserve south of Skipwith, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only three areas within the Vale of York that represent what the area was like before intensive agriculture took over. Natural England have described the reserve as having "international importance" on account of "its wet and dry heathland".
Peatland restoration is a term describing measures to restore the original form and function of peatlands, or wet peat-rich areas. This landscape globally occupies 400 million hectares or 3% of land surface on Earth. Historically, peatlands have been drained for several main reasons; peat extraction, creation of agricultural land, and forestry usage. However, this activity has caused degradation affecting this landscape's structure through damage to habitats, hydrology, nutrients cycle, carbon balance and more.
Shap Fells is a Site of Special Scientific Interest part of which is within the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It is located near the eastern boundary of the park, with one section to the west of the A6 road and another section to the east of this road. Throughout the protected area there are areas of blanket bog. Shap Fells was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the range of acid grassland types, the diversity of upland birds and also because
