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A peatland that is actively forming peat is called a mire. All types of mires share the common characteristic of being saturated with water, at least seasonally with actively forming peat, while having their own ecosystem. [4] Peatlands are the largest natural carbon store on land.
The peatland ecosystem covers 3.7 million square kilometres (1.4 million square miles) [12] and is the most efficient carbon sink on the planet, [2] [13] because peatland plants capture carbon dioxide (CO 2) naturally released from the peat, maintaining an equilibrium.
In addition, tropical peatlands support diverse ecosystems and are home to a number of endangered species including the orangutan. The native peat swamp forests contain a number of valuable timber-producing trees plus a range of other products of value to local communities, such as bark, resins and latex.
The goals of peatland restoration in hydrological terms are primarily to improve the quality and regulate the quantity of water. A peatland as an intact ecosystem is a natural water purifier, it filters and stores organic substances, metals or other toxic matter and retains nutrients. [8]
Thus the paludification process includes a shift from forests, grassland or long exposed bare land to peatland. [2] The initiation of this accumulation of organic matter (i.e. peat), can be controlled by both allogenic (i.e. external to the ecosystem) and autogenic (i.e. internal to the ecosystem) factors. [3]
Peat swamp forest are unusual ecosystems, with trees reaching as high in 70 m (230 ft) in South East Asian ecoregions—vastly different from the peatlands of the north temperate and boreal zones (which are dominated by Sphagnum mosses, grasses, sedges and shrubs). [10]
moss bog) is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bog or peatland , and is a standard term in Canada and Alaska.
Because all bogs have peat, they are a type of peatland. As a peat-producing ecosystem, they are also classified as mires, along with fens. Bogs differ from fens, in that fens receive water and nutrients from mineral-rich surface or groundwater, while bogs receive water and nutrients from precipitation. [7]