Peat Bog Ecosystems: Impacts of Artificial Drainage on Peatlands

Actively-growing bogs consist of two layers. The thick basal layer (catotelm) consists of accumulated peat and is relatively inert, whereas the thin surface layer (acrotelm) is a highly dynamic layer which is characterised by small-scale microtopographic features. These features provide resilience in the face of changing climates and are important indicators of the degree to which the bog has been damaged by human action. The surface microtopography is also a key source of ecosystem biodiversity. This briefing note is part of a series aimed at policy makers, practitioners and academics to help explain the ecological processes that underpin peatland function. Understanding the ecology of peatlands is essential when investigating the impacts of human activity on peatlands, interpreting research findings and planning the recovery of damaged peatlands

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Weathering, Erosion and Mass Movement of Blanket Bog

When the protective living layer of the acrotelm of a peat bog is lost as a result of human activities, the catotelm peat beneath becomes subject to weathering and erosion. As much as 3 cm thickness can be lost in one year. More spectacular losses can occur if mass movement of the peat occurs because the stability of the peat on a hill-slope is compromised by the same factors as those which trigger erosion. With the recent reduction in human pressures on blanket bog landscapes, there is evidence of natural re-vegetation across many areas, although very extensive areas continue to erode. This briefing note is part of a series aimed at policy makers, practitioners and academics to help explain the ecological processes that underpin peatland function. Understanding the ecology of peatlands is essential when investigating the impacts of human activity on peatlands, interpreting research findings and planning the recovery of damaged peatlands

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Burning

Fires occur naturally on bogs through lightning strikes, but for any given location this is a rare occurrence - perhaps once every 200 or 300 years. Current burning practice for grazing or to encourage grouse means that ground is burnt 10x more frequently than this, resulting in loss of natural peat bog biodiversity and peat-forming species. Full recovery may take considerably more than a century. This briefing note is part of a series aimed at policy makers, practitioners and academics to help explain the ecological processes that underpin peatland function. Understanding the ecology of peatlands is essential when investigating the impacts of human activity on peatlands, interpreting research findings and planning the recovery of damaged peatlands

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Structure, Form, State and Condition

This briefing note is part of a series aimed at policy makers, practitioners and academics to help explain the ecological processes that underpin peatland function. Understanding the ecology of peatlands is essential when investigating the impacts of human activity on peatlands, interpreting research findings and planning the recovery of damaged peatlands. This report considers the structure, form, state and condition of bogs/mires. It recommends use of the JNCC '-tope' system in describing peat areas, which encompasses vegetation, microtopography and overal site hydrology, rather than only on vegetation description

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Domestic peat extraction

Small-scale peat extraction for fuel has probably been a feature of peat-dominated landscapes for many thousands of years. The cumulative scale and extent of this activity is often under-estimated, particularly in areas which are now remote parts of the landscape. A cut peat face acts as a one-sided drain and thus has a number of hydrological and morphological effects, including potentially the creation of weak zones within the peat which may trigger mass movement. This briefing note is part of a series aimed at policy makers, practitioners and academics to help explain the ecological processes that underpin peatland function. Understanding the ecology of peatlands is essential when investigating the impacts of human activity on peatlands, interpreting research findings and planning the recovery of damaged peatlands

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Tracks across peatlands

Tracks have been made across peatlands for as long as human society has existed. Un-made tracks (i.e. those created simply by regular use, with no construction involved) were probably first created by grazing animals and then presumably also used by early human communities. Finding these increasingly impassable with regular use, human societies began to construct 'corduroy roads' during Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age times. These first constructed tracks were made from cut timbers(below). Across Europe, many examples of these corduroy roads have been found preserved in lowland bogs, perhaps most famously in the Somerset Levels and more recently at Hatfield Moors on the Humberhead Levels

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Peatland Restoration

Peatland restoration involves giving aid to a complex ecosystem which has been damaged in some way. A reasonable analogy is a patient brought to a hospital for urgent treatment. When arriving at Accident & Emergency, the first priority of the medical team is to stabilise the patient’s condition. Only after the patient’s condition has been assessed and then stabilised can the team begin to think about the longer-term process of healing and recovery. A similar logic is applied to peatlands. First, stabilisation is required to prevent further degradation, following which restoration can focus on the recovery of the ecosystem

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Key Definitions

This briefing note is part of a series aimed at policy makers, practitioners and academics to help explain the ecological processes that underpin peatland function. Understanding the ecology of peatlands is essential when investigating the impacts of human activity on peatlands, interpreting research findings and planning the recovery of damaged peatlands. This briefing paper defines peatland bogs and mires, their difference to fens, and the various subdivisions of bog types. Given the broad dominance of peat-rich soils throughout much of the UK uplands, such areas are likely to play a key part in delivering a wide range of ecosystem services at the landscape scale, including particularly carbon storage and water supply, but this will only be achieved if the peat bog habitat is correctly identified, characterised and thereby managed in an appropriate way. If this can be achieved, these peat-dominated landscapes can help to underpin a sustainable rural community as well as providing key benefits to society (e.g. water supplies, carbon storage and sequestration) as a whole

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Peat Bogs, Climate and Climate Change

Peat bogs rely on direct atmospheric inputs for their water supply, but such inputs include the 'occult' moisture of fog, mist and dew as well as the more obvious rain and snow. Climate models do not yet take such occult inputs into account. They are also based on the current distribution of peat bog systems rather than the historic distribution of such systems which suggest that peat bogs grew as far south as the south coast of England until the 18th Century. Furthermore these models do not make allowance for the biotic response of the acrotelm to changes in climate conditions. This briefing note is part of a series aimed at policy makers, practitioners and academics to help explain the ecological processes that underpin peatland function. Understanding the ecology of peatlands is essential when investigating the impacts of human activity on peatlands, interpreting research findings and planning the recovery of damaged peatlands

Peat Bog Ecosystems: Grazing and Trampling

Bog vegetation is sensitive to trampling and thus is only able to sustain a combination of domestic and wild grazing stock at very low densities. Higher densities combine with impacts such as burning, drainage and atmospheric pollution to cause loss of the protective bog vegetation and development of erosion complexes. Trampling is also an issue for researchers repeatedly visiting monitoring locations, even if only once a year. This briefing note is part of a series aimed at policy makers, practitioners and academics to help explain the ecological processes that underpin peatland function. Understanding the ecology of peatlands is essential when investigating the impacts of human activity on peatlands, interpreting research findings and planning the recovery of damaged peatlands