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Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. ... The characteristics of some bog plants actively promote bog formation.
Peat formation typically initiates as a paludification of a mineral soil forests, terrestrialisation of lakes, or primary peat formation on bare soils on previously glaciated areas. [3] A peatland that is actively forming peat is called a mire .
According to an article written in 2013, the U.S. got up to 80% of sphagnum peat moss it uses from Canada. At that time, in Canada, the peat bog mass harvested each year was roughly 1/60th of the peat mass that annually accumulated. About 0.02% of the 1.1 million km 2 (420,000 sq mi) of Canadian peat bog are used for peat moss mining. [29]
Ireland's Bord na Móna ("peat board") was one of the first companies to mechanically harvest peat, which is being phased out. [31] The other major use of dried peat is as a soil amendment (sold as moss peat or sphagnum peat) to increase the soil's capacity to retain moisture and enrich the soil. [4] It is also used as a mulch.
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. [1] [2] It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. [2] The unique water chemistry of fens is a result of the ground or surface water input.
Peat forest contains high amount of carbon due to its soil nature, categorized as histosols with characteristics of high organic material content (70–99%). [10] [23] This carbon pool is stabilized by the low temperature on temperate peat, and by the water logging on tropical peat.
The major characteristics of Burns Bog is that it is wet, acidic, and peat-forming. [4] It is a wetland ecosystem with a diverse array of plant, animal, and insect species. A major component of Burns Bog is sphagnum moss , which is able to hold about 30 times its weight in water.
Blanket bog on the Yell, Shetland Islands, with some peat working. Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses of undulating ground.