Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Larger accumulations of water in the middle of the bogs are called kolks or bog ponds (of humic acid-rich water); the wet area on the outer margins is known as a moat or lagg. Genuine ombrotrophic bogs on the North German Plain are usually sharply divided into two layers: an underlying black peat layer, which is strongly decomposed, and an ...
Peat forms when plant material does not fully decay in acidic and anaerobic conditions. It is composed mainly of wetland vegetation: principally bog plants including mosses, sedges and shrubs. As it accumulates, the peat holds water. This slowly creates wetter conditions that allow the area of wetland to expand.
[2] [3] 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. [4] [5] 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 ...
The pH of water, peat, and/or soil is usually acidic to neutral in mires with ribbed bog moss, although ribbed bog moss tolerates mildly alkaline conditions. For example, ribbed bog moss grows in extremely acidic peatlands overlying permafrost in spruce taiga of Alaska but also grows in calcareous bogs in Birds Hill Provincial Park.
Sphagnum is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species [2] [3] of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). 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 ...
This deficiency is a key characteristic of these ecosystems. However, while ombrotrophic peat decomposes slowly, some nutrient release does occur. For example, microelements like zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and manganese (Mn) are easily mobilized. Additionally, the presence of more nutrient-demanding species in drainage channels draining ...
Muskeg consists of non-living organic material in various states of decomposition (as peat), ranging from fairly intact sphagnum moss, to sedge peat, to highly decomposed humus. Pieces of wood can make up five to fifteen percent of the peat soil. The water table tends to be near the surface.
This part is usually made up of peat (usually with limestone to reduce acidity) [6] or coconut coir. It serves to absorb water and nutrients. Tree bark, mainly of pine, may also be used. The use of peat is controversial since the harvesting of peat moss from peatlands (which includes unique habitats such as bogs and fens) can degrade these ...