A 'bog' is a
wetland type that accumulates
acidic
peat, a deposit of dead plant material. The term 'peat bog' in common usage is not entirely redundant, although it would be proper to call these 'sphagnum bogs' if the peat is composed mostly of acidophilic
moss (peat moss or ''
Sphagnum'' spp.).
Lichens are a principal component of peat in the far north.
Moisture is provided entirely by
precipitation, and for this reason bog waters are acidic and termed
ombrotrophic (or
cloud-fed), which accounts for their low plant nutrient status. Excess rainfall outflows, with dissolved
tannins from the plant matter giving a distinctive tan colour to bog waters. See also
blackwater river.
Distribution and extent
Bogs are widely distributed in cold, temperate climes, mostly in the northern hemisphere (
Boreal). The world's largest wetlands are the bogs of the Western
Siberian Lowlands in
Russia, which cover more than
600,000 square kilometres. Sphagnum bogs were widespread in northern
Europe.
Ireland was more than 15% bog;
Achill Island off Ireland is 87% bog. There are extensive bogs in
Canada and
Alaska (called
muskeg),
Scotland (called
mosses), the
Netherlands,
Ireland,
Sweden,
Denmark,
Estonia (20% boglands),
Finland (26%), and northern
Germany. There are also bogs in the
Falkland Islands.
Ombrotrophic wetlands - that is, bogs - are also found in the tropics, with notable areas documented in
Kalimantan; these habitats are forested so would be better called
swamps. Extensive bogs cover the northern areas of the
U.S. states of
Minnesota and
Michigan, most notably on
Isle Royale in
Lake Superior. The
pocosin of the southeastern United States is like a bog in that it is an acidic wetland but it has its own unusual combination of features. In certain areas such as Ireland and Scotland, coastal bogs are frequently intruded upon by low lying dunes called ''
Machairs''.
Bog habitats
Virgin
boreal acid bogs at Brown's Lake Bog, Ohio. The tree cover is not typical of a bog.
Bogs are recognized as a significant habitat type by a number of governmental and conservation agencies. For example, the
United Kingdom in its
Biodiversity Action Plan establishes bog habitats as a priority for conservation. Bogs are challenging environments for plant life because they are low in nutrients and very acidic.
Carnivorous plants have adapted to these conditions by using
insects as a nutrient source. The high acidity of bogs and the absorption of water by sphagnum moss reduce the amount of water available for plants. Some bog plants, such as
Leatherleaf, have waxy leaves to help retain moisture. Bogs also offer a unique environment for animals. For instance,
English bogs give a home to the
boghopper beetle and a yellow
fly called the
hairy canary.
Uses of bogs
Industrial uses
A bog is a very early stage in the formation of
coal deposits. In fact, bogs can catch fire and often sustain long-lasting smouldering blazes, producing smoke and
carbon dioxide, thus causing health and environmental problems. After drying, peat is used as a
fuel. More than 20% of home heat in Ireland comes from peat, and it is also used for fuel in Finland, Scotland, Germany, and Russia. Russia is the leading producer of peat for fuel at more than 90 million metric tons per year. Ireland's
Bord na Móna (peat board) was one of the first companies to mechanically harvest peat.
The other major use of dried peat is as a
soil amendment (sold as ''moss peat'' or ''sphagnum'') to increase the soil's capacity to retain moisture and enrich the soil. It is also used as a
mulch. Some
distilleries, notably
Laphroaig, use peat fires to smoke the
barley used in making
scotch whisky. More than 90% of the bogs in England have been destroyed.
[1][2]
Other uses
Blueberries,
cranberries,
cloudberries,
huckleberries,
wild strawberries and
lingonberries are harvested from the wild in bogs.
Bog oak, wood that has been partially preserved by bogs, has been used in manufacture of
furniture.
Sphagnum bogs are also used for sport, but this can be damaging.
All-terrain vehicles are especially damaging to bogs.
Bog snorkelling is popular in England and
Wales and has even produced the associated sport of
mountain bike bog snorkelling.
Llanwrtyd Wells, the smallest town in Wales, hosts the World Bog Snorkeling Championships. In this event, competitors with mask, snorkel, and
scuba fins swim along a 60-meter trench cut through a peat bog.
Archaeology
In parts of Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom, peat bog conditions exist where the subsurface chemistry of moisture combined with an anaerobic environment, such that remarkable preservation of animal organisms can result.
[3] Some bogs have preserved ancient
oak logs useful in
dendrochronology, and they have yielded extremely well-preserved
bog bodies, with organs, skin, and hair intact, buried there thousands of years ago after apparent Germanic and
Celtic human sacrifice. Excellent examples of such human specimens are
Haraldskær Woman and
Tollund Man in Denmark. In the
Iron Age culture of Denmark, a discovery of several victims of ritual sacrifice by strangulation was recorded.
[4] The corpses were thrown into peat bogs where they were discovered after 2000 years, perfectly preserved down to their facial expressions, although well-tanned by the acidic environment of the Danish bogs. The Germanic culture has similarities to the characteristics of the probably Celtic
Lindow man found at
Lindow Common and with the
Frisian culture described in the story of
St. Wulfram. In Ireland, at Ceide fields in County Mayo, a 5000 year old
neolithic farming landscape complete with field walls and hut sites has been found preserved under a raised
blanket bog.
Fiction and song
Gothic Fiction is commonly set on a
moor, a type of landscape common in
Great Britain and Ireland which often has extensive bogs. One example is "
The Hound of the Baskervilles", a
Sherlock Holmes story by
Arthur Conan Doyle which is largely set on
Dartmoor and contains the fictional bog ''Grimpen Mire'', said to have been based on
Fox Tor in
Devon.
"The Bog People" is a song by death metal group, Nunslaughter.
Several
comic book characters are based on the idea of a half-plant/half-human creature living in a bog, notably
The Heap,
Swamp Thing,
Man-Thing, and
Solomon Grundy.
German
industrial band
Bigod 20 had their biggest hit with 1990s "
The Bog", in which the narrator, a fell creature living within the bog or perhaps the bog itself, describes how he's swallowing the listener's body. American
post-punk band
be your own PET also has a song called "Bog", where the singer mentions having drowned her boyfriend in a bog.
The main character in
Jethro Tull's song
Aqualung "goes down to the bog and warms his feet."
One of Europe's best-known protest songs, "
Peat Bog Soldiers", was written by prisoners in
Nazi moorland
labour camps in the
Emsland and describes their
penal labour in
bog drainage.
Trivia
★ The last Sunday in July is International Bog Day
[1]
★ ''Bog'' is also a
British and
Irish slang word for
toilet. Toilet paper is called a ''bog roll''
★ The phrase ''bog standard'' is often used to describe something that is ordinary or regular issue
★ ''The Mysterious Bog People'' is a travelling museum exhibition organized by the
Drents Museum, Assen, The Netherlands, the
Niedersachsisches Landesmuseum, Hannover, Germany, the
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau-Ottawa, Canada and the
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada
★
Bog Snorkelling is a tongue-in-cheek
extreme sport with competitors swimming through murky water-filled trenches cut into a bog.
★ Some cultures believe that if you enter a bog all medical issues would be cured.
See also
References
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/3942167.stm
2. http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/water/water/peat_bogs/index.asp
3. C.M.Hogan, ''Haraldskaer Woman'', Lumina Technologies Press, July, 2005
4. P.V. Glob, ''The Bog People: Iron Age Man Preserved''
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0709/bog-bodies/bog-bodies-photos.html?email=Focus24Aug07
External links
★
Ballynahone Bog
★
Black Spruce Bog Describes a forested bog type of North America
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