Development of mires

Joosten, Hans; Guth, Lukas; Lang, Gerhard; Ammann, Brigitta (2023). Development of mires. In: Lang, Gerhard; Ammann, Brigitta; Behre, Karl-Ernst; Tinner, Willy (eds.) Quaternary Vegetation Dynamics of Europe (pp. 426-450). Bern: Haupt Verlag

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Mires are ecosystems in which – under permanently water-saturated, oxygen-poor soil conditions – dead plants do not completely decay. The semi-decomposed plant material piles up as layers of peat that, over time, may reach several metres thickness storing palaeoenvironmental information in a stratigraphical way.
Terminologically and conceptually a differentiation is made between ‘land where peat is accumulating’ (a ‘mire’) and ‘land where peat is present’ (a ‘peatland’). In a mire, intricate relationships exist between vegetation, water and accumulating peat. A peatland is defined more widely. In a drained peatland, peat accumulation does not take place anymore and the peat no longer has a genetic relationship with the vegetation above.

Item Type:

Book Section (Book Chapter)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Palaeoecology
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS)

UniBE Contributor:

Lang, Gerhard, Ammann, Brigitta

Subjects:

500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)

ISBN:

978-3-25808214-1

Publisher:

Haupt Verlag

Language:

English

Submitter:

Peter Alfred von Ballmoos-Haas

Date Deposited:

08 Aug 2023 14:21

Last Modified:

04 Sep 2023 14:35

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/185295

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/185295

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