Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers 954 km2 (368 sq mi).
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.
Sphagnum is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss. Accumulations of Sphagnum can store water, since both living and dead plants can hold large quantities of water inside their cells; plants may hold 16 to 26 times as much water as their dry weight, depending on the species. The empty cells help retain water in drier conditions.
Cors Caron is a raised bog in Ceredigion, Wales. Cors is the Welsh word for "bog". Cors Caron covers an area of approximately 349 hectares. Cors Caron represents the most intact surviving example of a raised bog landscape in the United Kingdom. About 44 different species groups inhabit the area including various land and aquatic plants, fish, insects, crustaceans, lichen, fungi, terrestrial mammals and birds.
Sphagnum girgensohnii, commonly known as Girgensohn's bogmoss, Girgensohn's sphagnum or common green peat moss, is a species of peat moss with a Holarctic and Indo-Malesian distribution. First described by Edmund Russow in 1865, it is a relatively robust moss species characterised by its green to straw-coloured appearance and distinctive branching pattern. The species typically grows in shaded, damp woodlands and on the edges of mires, forming loose mats particularly under birch and willow trees, and can be found from sea level to elevations of 2,200 metres. While it shows a mainly northern distribution pattern and is especially abundant in subarctic regions, it occurs throughout Europe from Portugal to Russia, being more common in upland areas. Despite facing threats from habitat degradation and land-use changes, S. girgensohnii is assessed by the IUCN as Least Concern due to its extensive range and stable populations, though it receives legal protection under various national and international frameworks, including the EU Habitats Directive.
A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. Peatlands are unusual landforms that derive mostly from biological rather than physical processes, and can take on characteristic shapes and surface patterning.
Allendale Moors is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Northumberland, England. The upland moorland ridge site is listed for its heath, flush and upland grassland which provide a habitat for a nationally important assemblage of moorland breeding birds.
Forsinard Flows is a national nature reserve (NNR) covering much of the area surrounding Forsinard in the Highland council area of Scotland. It lies at the heart of the Flow Country, a large, rolling expanse of peatland and wetland area of Caithness and Sutherland that makes up almost 5% of the world's blanket bog. The reserve is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and is designated a Category II protected area by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Much of the NNR overlaps with the designated area of the Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation.
Paludiculture is wet agriculture and forestry on peatlands. Paludiculture combines the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands through rewetting with continued land use and biomass production under wet conditions. “Paludi” comes from the Latin “palus” meaning “swamp, morass” and "paludiculture" as a concept was developed at Greifswald University. Paludiculture is a sustainable alternative to drainage-based agriculture, intended to maintain carbon storage in peatlands. This differentiates paludiculture from agriculture like rice paddies, which involve draining, and therefore degrading wetlands.
Kobuleti Strict Nature Reserve is a protected area in Kobuleti Municipality, Adjara region of Georgia along the Black Sea coast in the northern part of the resort town Kobuleti. Kobuleti Protected Areas were established in 1998 to preserve unique wetland ecosystems recognized by the Ramsar Convention. Because of these wetland ecosystems, ancient forests, and the high biodiversity found within the reserve, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands in 2021.
Fleet Moss is an upland area separating Wharfedale from Wensleydale in North Yorkshire, England. The area is 1,850 ft (560 m) above sea level. Fleet Moss is noted for its peat blanket bog, which has been dated to the Neolithic period. The area is ombrotrophic; this means it needs rain, hail snow and fog for its nutrients. Fleet Moss is known as the most eroded blanket bog in all of Yorkshire; because of its observable damage, it is known colloquially as The Somme, and as such, is visible from space.
The Great North Bog is a large restoration initiative covering over 90% of the upland peatland in the North of England. It is a £200m project and aims to restore nearly 7,000 square kilometres of upland over 20 years. It is a partnership between the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership, Yorkshire Peat Partnership and the Moors for the Future Partnership. The area covers five national parks — the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, Lake District and Northumberland.
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.
The Bellanagare Bog Special Area of Conservation is a Natura 2000 site based close to the village of Bellanagare and the town of Castlerea in County Roscommon, Ireland. The qualifying interests by which it is protected as an SAC are the presence of three habitat types: the presence of active raised bog, the presence of degraded raised bogs still capable of natural regeneration, and the presence of depressions on peat substrates of Rhynchosporion vegetation.
The Cloonchambers Special Area of Conservation or SAC is a Natura 2000 site based close to the town of Castlerea in County Roscommon, Ireland. The qualifying interests by which it is protected as an SAC are the presence of three habitat types: the presence of active raised bogs, the presence of degraded raised bogs still capable of natural regeneration, and the presence of depressions on peat substrates of Rhynchosporion vegetation.
The Carrownagappul Bog Special Area of Conservation or SAC is a Natura 2000 site in County Galway, close to the town of Mountbellew in County Galway, Ireland. The site qualifies for Special Area of Conservation status under three criteria: the presence of active raised bog, of degraded raised bogs still capable of natural regeneration, and of depressions on peat substrates of the Rhynchosporion.
Otterburn Mires is a Site of Special Scientific Interest made up of eight separate patches of land. It is located within Northumberland National Park, in Northumberland, England, 3km east of Byrness,.
Muckle Moss is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a National Nature Reserve located near Bardon Mill in Northumberland, England. Muckle Moss is a mire over deep peat, and its boundaries include Blackdyke Plantation.
