The Importance Of Peat Bogs Environmental Sciences Essay

The Importance Of Peat Bogs Environmental Sciences EssayPeat is a physical that is left wing in the ground by decaying botany, and is prime in many parts of the world. Conditions roughly favourable to peat be low temperatures and a fairly moist atmosphere. Peat is create in urinelogged, sterile, acidic conditions of get stucks. These conditions favour the take onth of mosses, especially bog moss. sphagnum moss is a pale or ashy moss from the genus Sphagnum whose decomposed re of imports from peat. Peat is brownish/ obscure in colour and in its inhering state is composed of 90% water supply and 10% potent material. Peat consists of sphagnum moss on with roots, leaves, flowers, seeds of heathers, grasses and sedges.There argon several types of peatFen Peat is a black peat and contains a double tally of lime. It is usually found in hollows or in the beds of shallow lakes. This is found mainly off the Curragh, Co.Kild ar.Blanket bog Peat is generally found in Irish moun tains and in flat areas in Donegal, Galway, Mayo and Kerry. It is composed in the main of grasses.Raised bog Peat is contriveed mainly from sphagnum moss. Sphagnum is the main type. These are found exclusively in central Ireland, mainly in the Shannon basin.(Irish Peatland Conservation Council 2002).Here is an example of a peat bog landscape interpreted in Dublin, Eastern Ireland. (Travel Pod, Peat Bogs Dublin, Ireland).What is a bog?A bog is a type of wetland characterized by a thick mat of partially decomposed material and highly acidic water. Bogs learn been useful to compassionates for ks of years, providing a germ of fuel in the chassis of peat and food in the piss of berries which grow on bog shrubs such as cranberries.Peat bogs are wetland sites with poor drainage. Peat bogs are fed by rainwater and the soil builds up its own water table and acidity. Sphagnum mosses grow and decompose eventually forming layers of peat. Peat piles infra the scrape up and may be man y metres deep. (Environment and Heritage Service 2004). arrangement of a Peat BogFlooded hollows and basins provide idyllic enlarge conditions for reeds and sedges.When the vegetation dies, it does not rot away completely as the water in the hollows prevents oxygen from reaching the dead specifys. The partly-rotted plants steadily build up to form fen peat. Eventually dark fibrous peat completely fills the hollow to form a fen. Most of the nutrients are tied up in the peat and so the only minerals available for plant growth are those dissolved in rainfall. Layers of bog moss, which has the ability to create their own acid environment, begin to switch the fen vegetation and alter fen into true bog. A growing thickness of sphagnum peat slowly accumulates and the surface of the bog starts to rise higher up the border land. The original fen has now become a raised(a) bog.Raised bogs are mostly found on the lowlands around Lough Neagh, along the Bann Valley and in counties, such a s Fermanagh and Tyrone. (Natural Heritage 2005 Abbot 1997).This look-alike is of a raised bog in the Bann River Valley, which is situated in Federal Ireland, separating Londonderry from Antrim. (Irish Peatland Conservation Council 1998).The richness of peat bogs and in that respect benefits.Peat bogs are really important and super beneficial to the environment and humans. They areA living archive. A moneyed record of information lies sealed in our bogs. Much of this is organic and has a capacity to expand our understanding of people, culture, economy and climate far covering fire to pre narration. Peat bogs have produced near of the most impressive finds of Irish archaeology, including extremely fresh-looking bodies of some of our ancestors. The lack of oxygen in the peat prevents the normal decomposing processes from taking place and so bogs have sealed within them a vast assortment of gold, bronze, amber, wooden and stone objects. These hind end tell us about how and whe re people lived in ancient Ireland.Archaeologists have discovered many fascinating structures within and infra the peat. Some remains bay window be revealed without digging the peat. For example the pitfall Age farmland in the Cide fields, co. Mayo, is covered by up to 4 metres deep. The outline of the farm walls can be mapped by probe with iron rods which go down through the peat until they hit a solid structure. By inquiring at the right angles to the wall, its possible to establish the direct of the old ground surface under the bog and the location and tallness of the wall built on the surface. (Irish Peatland Conservation Council 2002).A Habitat. Peat bogs are full-bodied in range of plants and wildlife, some of which are exclusive to these environments. They are cornerstone to thousands of insects,including butterflies, dragonflies, and a rare raft spider. Nearly up to a thousand plants grow here, including carnivorous plants such as the great sundew as well as mosses a nd fungi. Birdlife is sizable with waders, wildfowl, nightjar, winchat, merlin and the short-eared owl.A Carbon Source. Peat is rich in fossil vitamin C which has been removed from the atmosphere by plants compile over many years. Drainage and damage of raised bogs results in the right away loss of the stored ampere-second in the form of greenhouse gases, as the peat decays. Globally, Peat stores double as much carbon as forests.A fuel source. Peat has been the traditionalistic domestic fuel in Ireland since the early 1300s when peatlands were more widespread. Traditionally peat was thin out by hand, using a special turf-spade called a slen/slane. It is a slow, labour intensive process that can allow the bog to recover partially. (Godwin 1981)Endangered species. Many rare and un cheered species of plant and tool are found on bogs. For example, The GreenLand White-fronted Goose relies on wet bogs with pools for feeding and roosting. The invertebrates found on bogs contain ma ny rare species. The bog moss Sphagnum imbricatum is entirely restricted to bogs and is the main peat performing species in the oceanic peatland types. Sphagnum imbricatum is becoming rarer as further sites are brought into development and bogs are universe finished therefore killing off this bog moss.An electricity source. urbane peat moss is used to produce electricity. Milled peat is air dried peat in the form of powder or crumbs. This began first in co.Offaly in the year 1957. Bord na Mna is responsible for peat production in Ireland. Bord na mna owns 80,000ha of peatland and harvest 4 million tonnes of milled peat per year. The main grocery for milled peat is the energy sector both for burning in index stations and for domestic consumption via briquettes production.A tourist standoff. Due to Brobdingnagian areas of bog land in Ireland, many tourists visit the peat bogs. This is benefiting the local surrounding area economically and making people more aware of the importan ce of peat bogs. Peat bogs are a great place for Bird watchers as there is a wide diversity of birds. (Godwin 1981 Irish Peatland Conservation Council 1996).Although peat bogs are very important, they do however face many threats, the main one worldPeat extraction and human intervention, the introduction of machines for peat-cutting and milling has destroyed vast areas of bogland. at once the peat is cut, the area is drained and in turn damages the delicate ecosystem. The surface of the peat bog lowers and becomes drier and the wildlife there begins to die or leave. Humans can benefit from cutting peat economically. When humans cut too much peat at one time out of greed, they damage the bog as the peat does not have sufficient time to recover. If the peat was extracted gradually, the bog has a better and semipermanent chance of survival. (Natural Heritage 2005 Environment Waikato Regional Council 1997-2007).There is a huge demand for peat from amateur gardeners. Peat actually is nt a great source of nutrients for plants as it contains very little biological activity. Manufacturers add nutrients to boost its chemical fertility. If gardeners were to describe their own compost our peatland wildlife would have a more secure incoming and there would be less peat extracted from our peat bogs.Another threat faced by our peat bogs is silage run-off.This poisonous run-off can seep into the bogs water table the results are devastating to both animal and plant life within, killing large numbers of different species present here.Overgrazing can have huge set up on our bogs. This can disturb wildlife and it damages the surface of the bogland. However, it has the ability to increase nutrient levels through animal urine and dung.When there are plant pests present and living, they threaten the biodiversity. They can grow very quickly and exit compete against inbred plants for space, light and nutrients. These pests are reducing the original and native plant diversity. (Backyard Gardener)The Government has had a huge success in introducing laws to protect our peat lands. This was mainly prompted by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council. Our peat bogs need to be protected for many reasons.Bogs contain a wide chassis of plants and animals. Without bogs as a habitat some of these animals may become extinct. Animals and plants can live and manifold there without being disturbed. (Godwin 1981).Bogs contain a lot of water. Most of the water comes from rainfall. This is an excellent source of water when the fraternity is in need. The peat bogs also dish to filter water, leaving it fairly clean.The carbon contained in peat bogs make up 60% of the carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. If the bog is still living, (not destroyed or damaged) then carbon is slowly emitted to the atmosphere which helps reduce carbon dioxide pollution. In return, this provides for a better and cleaner environment. (Poland. Pl 2009)Peat bogs are a natural archive to our past. We can investigate into the changes of climate and the anthropogenic history of the area. Peat takes a long time to accumulate, so by analyzing the remains of plants preserved in peat, we can research changes which took place in the environment over the years.To encounter nature in its natural condition unchanged by human intervention becomes a very popular way of spending spare time. Therefore, people travel to see this landscape and it becomes a tourist attraction in many ways. (Irish Peatland Conservation Council 1996).What can we do to help write our peat bogs?Its easy and requires simple tasks such asRefuse to buy peat or plants grown in peat.Stop using peat in your garden you can start a compost heap as an alternative.Visit a peatland reserve close to you and see the wildlife. Once you do this, youll never want to buy peat again.Raise awareness of the importance of our bogs and inform the local community about our peat bogs.If you live near one, keep an eye out and under write any illegal cutting or dumping.Recycle kitchen/garden baseless to make your own compost and persuade others to do the same. Oxigen waste alliance have even introduced a brown bin collection daytime for all kitchen and garden waste that can decompose. (Irish Peatland Conservation Council 1996).In conclusion, although we may not think about it, peat and peat bogs have a huge beguile on humans and the environment and vice versa. Without bogs, a wide variety of species would be killed off, there would be no natural source of history available to historians etc., there would be a lot more carbon in the air which would result in ozone damage, some animals would be left without a habitat and finally, they are a source of water when we are in need. However, Peat lands help humans in many ways and have a huge importance in the world today.