BRAINCAKEManaging Ecosystems - Peat Bogs
A peat bog is a wetland where the ground is permanently waterlogged. The water makes the conditions anaerobic (little oxygen), acidic and low in nutrients, so decomposers work very slowly. Dead plant material, especially sphagnum moss, does not fully decompose and builds up as peat, at only about 1 mm per year.
Peat bogs are important because:
• they are a huge carbon store; worldwide, peatlands hold more carbon than all the world's forests
• they support specialised species such as sundews (insectivorous plants), cotton grass, dragonflies and wading birds
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