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A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation , due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia . [ 1 ]
The peatland ecosystem covers 3.7 million square kilometres (1.4 million square miles) [12] and is the most efficient carbon sink on the planet, [2] [13] because peatland plants capture carbon dioxide (CO 2) naturally released from the peat, maintaining an equilibrium.
In addition, tropical peatlands support diverse ecosystems and are home to a number of endangered species including the orangutan. The native peat swamp forests contain a number of valuable timber-producing trees plus a range of other products of value to local communities, such as bark, resins and latex.
Because all bogs have peat, they are a type of peatland. As a peat-producing ecosystem, they are also classified as mires, along with fens. Bogs differ from fens, in that fens receive water and nutrients from mineral-rich surface or groundwater, while bogs receive water and nutrients from precipitation. [7]
Peat swamp forest are unusual ecosystems, with trees reaching as high in 70 m (230 ft) in South East Asian ecoregions—vastly different from the peatlands of the north temperate and boreal zones (which are dominated by Sphagnum mosses, grasses, sedges and shrubs). [10]
The Flow Country in the Highlands is home to diverse wildlife and also acts as a massive carbon capture site.
Fens are highly biodiverse ecosystems and often serve as habitats for endangered or rare species, with species composition changing with water chemistry. [2] They also play important roles in the cycling of nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus due to the lack of oxygen (anaerobic conditions) in waterlogged organic fen soils.
An ecological definition of a wetland is "an ecosystem that arises when inundation by water produces soils dominated by anaerobic and aerobic processes, which, in turn, forces the biota, particularly rooted plants, to adapt to flooding". [1] Sometimes a precise legal definition of a wetland is required.