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Peat, sometimes known as turf, is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers 3.7 million square kilometres (1.4 million square miles) and is the most efficient carbon sink on the planet, because peatland plants capture CO2 naturally released from the peat, maintaining an equilibrium. In natural peatlands, the "annual rate of biomass production is greater than the rate of decomposition", but it takes "thousands of years for peatlands to develop the deposits of 1.5 to 2.3 m [4.9 to 7.5 ft], which is the average depth of the boreal [northern] peatlands", which store around 415 gigatonnes (457 billion short tons; 408 billion long tons) of carbon (about 46 times 2019 global CO2 emissions). Globally, it even stores up to 550 gigatonnes (610 billion short tons; 540 billion long tons) of carbon, representing 42% of all soil carbon and exceeds the carbon stored in all other vegetation types, including the world's forests. Across the world, peat covers just 3% of the land’s surface, but stores one-third of the Earth’s soil carbon. 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.
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses, and in a majority of cases, 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 baygall is another type of bog found in the forest of the Gulf Coast states in the USA. 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.
Askham Bog is small area of peat bog and Site of Special Scientific Interest situated within the Vale of York in North Yorkshire, England. It lies to the south-west of York, north of Copmanthorpe and near Askham Richard and Askham Bryan. It is regarded as one of the most ecologically diverse sites in Northern England.
Sphagnum is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as "peat moss", though they are different as peat moss has a more acidic pH level. 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.
Burns Bog is an ombrotrophic peat bog located in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest raised peat bog and the largest undeveloped urban land mass on the West Coast of the Americas. Burns Bog was originally 4,000–4,900 hectares before development. Currently, only 3,500 hectares remain of the bog.
Lindow Woman and Lindow I are the names given to the partial remains of a female bog body, discovered in a peat bog at Lindow Moss, near Wilmslow in Cheshire, England, on 13 May 1983 by commercial peat-cutters. The remains were largely a skull fragment, which was missing its jaw, but with soft tissue and hair attached. The remains were subsequently dated to the Roman period. The remains became more technically known as Lindow I after the discovery of other remains in the same bog, which were identified as Lindow Man or Lindow II in 1984 and Lindow III in 1987.
The Portlethen Moss is an acidic bog nature reserve located to the west of the town of Portlethen, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. Like other mosses, this wetland area supports a variety of plant and animal species, even though it has been subject to certain development and agricultural degradation pressures. For example, the Great Crested Newt was found here prior to the expansion of the town of Portlethen. Many acid loving vegetative species occur in Portlethen Moss, and the habitat is monitored by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.
Pinhook Bog is a unique bog in Indiana that has been designated a National Natural Landmark. It is part of Indiana Dunes National Park, an area that many citizens, scientists, and politicians fought hard to preserve. Its sister bog, Volo Bog, is located nearby. The bog contains a large variety of plants, including insect eating plants, tamarack trees, stands of blueberry bushes, and floating mats of sphagnum moss. Pinhook Bog is about 580 acres (2.3 km2), a quarter of which is a floating mat of sphagnum peat moss. A "moat" separates the bog from the uplands.
Beckley Bog is a sphagnum-heath-black spruce bog located near Norfolk in Litchfield County, Connecticut. It is the southernmost sphagnum heath bog in New England. The peat moss is over 51 feet deep. It was declared a National Natural Landmark in May 1977.
The Sifton Bog Environmentally Significant Area is a wetland jointly administered by the city of London, Ontario and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority. It is located west of Hyde Park Road and south of Oxford Street inside the city limits of London, Southern Ontario, Canada. It is a Class 2 provincially significant wetland.
Sphagnum magellanicum, commonly called Magellanic bogmoss, Magellan's sphagnum, Magellan's peatmoss or midway peat moss, is a widespread species of moss found in wet boreal forest in the far south and southwest of South America, North America and Eurasia.
Telmatobacter is a genus of bacteria in the family Acidobacteriaceae.
Sphagnum fuscum, the rusty bogmoss or rusty peat moss, is a peat moss found commonly in Norway and Sweden, and can be found scattered across North America, the United Kingdom, and in southern to eastern Europe.
Sphagnum cuspidatum, the feathery bogmoss, toothed sphagnum, or toothed peat moss, is a peat moss found commonly in Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, the eastern coast of the United States, and in Colombia.
Mucilaginibacter gracilis is a Gram-negative, facultatively aerobic, heterotrophic and non-motile bacterium from the genus of Mucilaginibacter which has been isolated from Sphagnum peat bog in the Tomsk Region in Russia.
Mucilaginibacter paludis is a facultatively aerobic and heterotrophic bacterium from the genus of Mucilaginibacter which has been isolated from acidic Sphagnum peat bog in western Siberia in Russia. Mucilaginibacter paludis has the ability to degrade pectin, xylan and laminarin.
Zavarzinella is an aerobic genus of bacteria from the family of Planctomycetaceae with one known species. Zavarzinella formosa has been isolated from Sphagnum peat from West Siberia.
Sphagnum papillosum, the papillose peatmoss, is a species of peat moss distributed throughout the northern hemisphere. Although sometimes confused with Sphagnum imbricatum and Sphagnum palustre, it is distinguished by its yellow-green to brown short, blunt branches and papillose chlorophyllose cells.
George Burton Rigg was an American botanist and ecologist, specializing in sphagnum bogs. In 1956 he received the Eminent Ecologist Award from the Ecological Society of America.
References
- ↑ LPSN lpsn.dsmz.de
- ↑ Kulichevskaya, I. S. (2006). "Rhodoblastus sphagnicola sp. nov., a novel acidophilic purple non-sulfur bacterium from Sphagnum peat bog". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 56 (6): 1397–1402. doi: 10.1099/ijs.0.63962-0 . PMID 16738120.
- ↑ UniProt
- ↑ Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen