Peat

) in 2013 , Somerset Levels in 1905 , Germany in 1987 Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. Sphagnum moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most common components in peat, although many other plants can contribute. The biological features of sphagnum mosses act to create a habitat aiding peat formation, a phenomenon termed 'habitat manipulation'. Soils consisting primarily of peat are known as histosols. Peat forms in wetland conditions, where flooding or stagnant water obstructs the flow of oxygen from the atmosphere, slowing the rate of decomposition. Peat properties such as organic matter content and saturated hydraulic conductivity can exhibit high spatial heterogeneity. Peatlands, particularly bogs, are the primary source of peat; although less common, other wetlands, including fens, pocosins and peat swamp forests, also deposit peat. Landscapes covered in peat are home to specific kinds of plants, including Sphagnum moss, ericaceous shrubs and sedges. Because organic matter accumulates over thousands of years, peat deposits provide records of past vegetation and climate by preserving plant remains, such as pollen. This allows the reconstruction of past environments and the study of land-use changes.…

) in 2013 , Somerset Levels in 1905 , Germany in 1987 Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. Sphagnum moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most common components in peat, although many other plants can contribute. The biological features of sphagnum mosses act to create a habitat aiding peat formation, a phenomenon termed 'habitat manipulation'. Soils consisting primarily of peat are known as histosols. Peat forms in wetland conditions, where flooding or stagnant water obstructs the flow of oxygen from the atmosphere, slowing the rate of decomposition. Peat properties such as organic matter content and saturated hydraulic conductivity can exhibit high spatial heterogeneity. Peatlands, particularly bogs, are the primary source of peat; although less common, other wetlands, including fens, pocosins and peat swamp forests, also deposit peat. Landscapes covered in peat are home to specific kinds of plants, including Sphagnum moss, ericaceous shrubs and sedges. Because organic matter accumulates over thousands of years, peat deposits provide records of past vegetation and climate by preserving plant remains, such as pollen. This allows the reconstruction of past environments and the study of land-use changes. Peat is used by gardeners and for horticulture in certain parts of the world, but this is being banned in some places. By volume, there are about 4 trillion cubic metres of peat in the world. Over time, the formation of peat is often the first step in the geological formation of fossil fuels such as coal, particularly low-grade coal such as lignite. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient carbon sink on the planet, because peatland plants capture carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) naturally released from the peat, maintaining an equilibrium. In natural peatlands, the "annual rate of biomass production is greater than the rate of decomposition", but it takes "thousands of years for peatlands to develop the deposits of , which is the average depth of the boreal [northern] peatlands", which store around 415 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon (about 46 times 2019 global CO 2 emissions). Globally, peat stores up to 550 Gt of carbon, 42% of all soil carbon, which exceeds the carbon stored in all other vegetation types, including the world's forests, although it covers just 3% of the land's surface. Peat is in principle a renewable source of energy. However, its extraction rate in industrialized countries far exceeds its slow regrowth rate of per year, and it is also reported that peat regrowth takes place only in 30–40% of peatlands. Centuries of burning and draining of peat by humans has released a significant amount of into the atmosphere, contributing to anthropogenic climate change. ==Formation== , Scotland Peat forms when plant material does not fully decay in acidic and anaerobic conditions. It is composed mainly of wetland vegetation: principally bog plants including mosses, sedges and shrubs. As it accumulates, the peat holds water. This slowly creates wetter conditions that allow the area of wetland to expand. Peatland features can include ponds, ridges and raised bogs. The characteristics of some bog plants actively promote bog formation. For example, sphagnum mosses actively secrete tannins, which preserve organic material. Sphagnum also have special water-retaining cells, known as hyaline cells, which can release water ensuring the bogland remains constantly wet which helps promote peat production. Most modern peat bogs formed 12,000 years ago in high latitudes after the glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age. Peat usually accumulates slowly at the rate of about a millimetre per year. The estimated carbon content is (northern peatlands), (tropical peatlands) and (South America). ==Types of peat material== Peat material is either fibric, hemic, or sapric. Fibric peats are the least decomposed and consist of intact fibre. Hemic peats are partially decomposed and sapric are the most decomposed. Phragmites peat are composed of reed grass, Phragmites australis, and other grasses. It is denser than many other types of peat. Engineers may describe a soil as peat which has a relatively high percentage of organic material. This soil is problematic because it exhibits poor consolidation properties—it cannot be easily compacted to serve as a stable foundation to support loads, such as roads or buildings. ==General uses== ===Agriculture=== , near Ulsta, Yell, Shetland Islands Peat has been discouraged as a soil additive by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, since 2003. While bark or coir-based peat-free potting soil mixes are on the rise, particularly in the UK, peat is still used as raw material for horticulture in some other European countries, Canada, as well as parts of the United States. In controlled environment agriculture peat is often used to make grow cups (that then hold coco coir or other medium), but similarly recent life cycle analysis has shown it is better for the environment to replace them with re-usable plastic cups (peat cups have ~4.5 times higher carbon footprint and 35 % greater energy consumption than single-use plastic cups) . ===Freshwater aquaria=== Peat is sometimes used in freshwater aquaria. It is seen most commonly in soft water or blackwater river systems such as those mimicking the Amazon River basin. In addition to being soft and therefore suitable for demersal (bottom-dwelling) species such as Corydoras catfish, peat is reported to have many other beneficial functions in freshwater aquaria. It softens water by acting as an ion exchanger; it also contains substances that are beneficial for plants and fishes' reproductive health. Peat can prevent algae growth and kill microorganisms. Peat often stains the water yellow or brown due to the leaching of tannins. ===Balneotherapy=== Peat is widely used in balneotherapy (the use of bathing to treat disease). Many traditional spa treatments include peat as part of peloids. Such health treatments have an enduring tradition in European countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. Some of these old spas date back to the 18th century and are still active today. The most common types of peat application in balneotherapy are peat muds, poultices and suspension baths. ==Environmental and ecological issues== The distinctive ecological conditions of peat wetlands provide a habitat for distinctive fauna and flora. For example, whooping cranes nest in North American peatlands, whilst Siberian cranes nest in the West Siberian peatland. Palsa mires have a rich bird life and are an EU-red listed habitat, and in Canada riparian peat banks are used as maternity sites for polar bears. Natural peatlands also have many species of wild orchids and carnivorous plants. For more on biological communities, see wetland, bog or fen. Around half of the area of northern peatlands is permafrost-affected, and this area represents around a tenth of the total permafrost area, and also a tenth (185 ± 66 Gt) of all permafrost carbon, equivalent to around half of the carbon stored in the atmosphere. Dry peat is a good insulator (with a thermal conductivity of around 0.25 Wm −1 K −1 ) and therefore plays an important role in protecting permafrost from thaw. The insulating effect of dry peat also makes it integral to unique permafrost landforms such as palsas and permafrost peat plateaus. Peatland permafrost thaw tends to result in an increase in methane emissions and a small increase in carbon dioxide uptake, meaning that it contributes to the permafrost carbon feedback. Under 2 °C global warming, 0.7 million km 2 of peatland permafrost could thaw, and with warming of +1.5 to 6 °C a cumulative 0.7 to 3 PgC of methane could be released as a result of permafrost peatland thaw by 2100. The forcing from these potential emissions would be approximately equivalent to 1% of projected anthropogenic emissions. One characteristic of peat is the bioaccumulation of metals concentrated in the peat. Accumulated mercury is of significant environmental concern. ===Peat drainage=== Large areas of organic wetland (peat) soils are currently drained for agriculture, forestry and peat extraction (i.e. through canals ). This process is taking place all over the world. This not only destroys the habitat of many species but also heavily fuels climate change. As a result of peat drainage, the organic carbon—which built over thousands of years and is normally underwater—is suddenly exposed to the air. It decomposes and turns into carbon dioxide ( ), which is released into the atmosphere. Globally about 12% of current peatlands have been drained and damaged. they are estimated to emit 4% of human made greenhouse gases, not including fires. === Peat fires=== n fires, 1997 Peat can be a major fire hazard and is not extinguished by light rain. Peat fires may burn for great lengths of time, or smoulder underground and reignite after winter if an oxygen source is present. Peat has a high carbon content and can burn under low moisture conditions. Once ignited by the presence of a heat source (e.g., a wildfire penetrating the subsurface), it smoulders. These smouldering fires can burn undetected for very long periods of time (months, years, and even centuries ) propagating in a creeping fashion through the underground peat layer. Despite the damage that the burning of raw peat can cause, bogs are naturally subject to wildfires and depend on the wildfires to keep woody competition from lowering the water table and shading out many bog plants. Several families of plants including the carnivorous Sarracenia (trumpet pitcher), Dionaea (Venus flytrap), Utricularia (bladderworts) and non-carnivorous plants such as the sandhills lily, toothache grass and many species of orchid are now threatened and in some cases endangered from the combined forces of human drainage, negligence and absence of fire. The recent burning of peat bogs in Indonesia, with their large and deep growths containing more than of carbon, has contributed to increases in world carbon dioxide levels. Peat deposits in Southeast Asia could be destroyed by 2040. It is estimated that in 1997, peat and forest fires in Indonesia released between of carbon; equivalent to 13–40 percent of the amount released by global fossil fuel burning, and greater than the carbon uptake of the world's biosphere. These fires may be responsible for the acceleration in the increase in carbon dioxide levels since 1998. More than 100 peat fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra have continued to burn since 1997; each year, these peat fires ignite new forest fires above the ground. In North America, peat fires can occur during severe droughts throughout their occurrence, from boreal forests in Canada to swamps and fens in the subtropical southern Florida Everglades. Once a fire has burnt through the area, hollows in the peat are burnt out, and hummocks are desiccated but can contribute to Sphagnum recolonization. In the summer of 2010, an unusually high heat wave of up to ignited large deposits of peat in Central Russia, burning thousands of houses and covering the capital of Moscow with a toxic smoke blanket. The situation remained critical until the end of August 2010. In June 2019, despite some forest fire prevention methods being put in place, peat fires in the Arctic emitted of CO 2 , which is equal to Sweden's total annual emissions. The peat fires are linked to climate change, as they are much more likely to occur nowadays due to this effect. ===Reduced usage=== Peat-free options and policies have been adopted in various countries, for example the UK's Royal Horticultural Society promotes peat-free gardening. Peat extraction has been forbidden in Chile since April 2024. ==Protection== In June 2002, the United Nations Development Programme launched the Wetlands Ecosystem and Tropical Peat Swamp Forest Rehabilitation Project. This project was targeted to last for five years, and brings together the efforts of various non-government organisations. In November 2002, the International Peatland (formerly Peat) Society (IPS) and the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) published guidelines on the "Wise Use of Mires and Peatlands – Backgrounds and Principles including a framework for decision-making". This publication aims to develop mechanisms that can balance the conflicting demands on the global peatland heritage to ensure its wise use to meet the needs of humankind. In June 2008, the IPS published the book Peatlands and Climate Change, summarising the currently available knowledge on the topic. In 2010, IPS presented a "Strategy for Responsible Peatland Management", which can be applied worldwide for decision-making. ==Restoration== Active peatland plant reintroduction successfully re-establishes typical plant communities within 5 years after restoration. These support the return of animal, insect, and bird communities found in undisturbed similar environments. The presence of pools in restoration projects increases the biodiversity by providing a variety of microhabitats. ==Characteristics and uses by nation== ===Latvia=== Latvia has been the biggest exporter of peat in the world by volume, providing more than 19.9% of the world's volume, followed only by Canada with 13% in 2022. In 2020, Latvia exported 1.97 million tons of peat, followed by Germany with 1.5 and Canada with 1.42 million tons. Nevertheless, although first in the world by volume, in monetary terms, Latvian comes second in the world behind Canada. As an example, Latvia's income from exports was US$237 million. Latvia's peat deposits have been estimated to equal 1.7 billion tons. Due to its climate, Latvia has several peat bogs, which account for 9.9% of the country's territory. More than two thirds of the licensed areas for peat extraction are state-owned; 55% belong to the state whilst 23% belong to the municipalities Bogs in Latvia are considered important habitats due to their ecological values, and up to 128,000 hectares, or 40% of the areas in the territory, are protected by environmental laws. The most famous national parks and reserves are the Ķemeri National Park, Cenas tīrelis and Teiči Nature Reserve. ===Finland=== , a peat-fired facility in Oulu, Finland The climate, geography and environment of Finland favours bog and peat bog formation. Thus, peat is available in considerable quantities. It is burned to produce heat and electricity. Peat provides around 4% of Finland's annual energy production. Also, agricultural and forestry-drained peat bogs actively release more CO 2 annually than is released in peat energy production in Finland. The average regrowth rate of a single peat bog, however, is indeed slow, from 1,000 up to 5,000 years. Furthermore, it is a common practice to forest used peat bogs instead of giving them a chance to renew. This leads to lower levels of CO 2 storage than the original peat bog. At 106 g CO 2 /MJ, the carbon dioxide emissions of peat are higher than those of coal (at 94.6 g CO 2 /MJ) and natural gas (at 56.1). According to one study, increasing the average amount of wood in the fuel mixture from the current 2.6% to 12.5% would take the emissions down to 93 g CO 2 /MJ. That said, little effort is being made to achieve this. The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) in 2006 urged the local and national governments of Finland to protect and conserve the remaining pristine peatland ecosystems. This includes the cessation of drainage and peat extraction in intact mire sites and the abandoning of current and planned groundwater extraction that may affect these sites. A proposal for a Finnish peatland management strategy was presented to the government in 2011, after a lengthy consultation phase. ===Ireland=== in the Irish Midlands: The 'turf' in the foreground is machine-produced for domestic use. In Ireland, a state-owned company called was responsible for managing peat extraction. It processed the extracted peat into milled peat used in power stations and sold processed peat fuel in the form of peat briquettes, which is used for domestic heating. These are oblong bars of densely compressed, dried, and shredded peat. Peat moss is a manufactured product for garden cultivation. Turf (dried-out peat sods) is also commonly used in rural areas. In January 2021, Bord na Móna announced that it had ceased all peat harvesting and cutting operations and would move its business to a climate solutions company. In 2022, selling peat for burning was prohibited, but some people are still allowed to cut and burn it. ===Russia=== . Russia has the largest peat power capacity in the world.|left , Russia The use of peat for energy production was prominent in the Soviet Union, especially in 1965. In 1929, over 40% of the Soviet Union's electric energy came from peat, which dropped to 1% by 1980. In the 1960s, larger sections of swamps and bogs in Western Russia were drained for agricultural and mining purposes. ===Netherlands=== Two-and-a-half thousand years ago, the area now named the Netherlands was largely covered with peat. Drainage, causing compaction and oxidation and excavation have reduced peatlands (> peat) to about or 10% of the land area, mostly used as meadows. Drainage and excavation have lowered the surface of the peatlands. In the west of the country, dikes and mills were built, creating polders so that dwelling and economic activities could continue below sea level, the first polder probably in 1533 and the last one in 1968. Peat harvesting could continue in suitable locations as the lower layers below the current sea level are exposed. This peat was deposited before the sea level rise in the Holocene. As a result, approximately 26% of the area and 21% of the population of the Netherlands are presently below sea level. The deepest point is in the Zuidplaspolder, below average sea level. In 2020, the Netherlands imported 2,156 million kg of peat (5.39 million m 3 [400 kg/m 3 dry peat] ): 44.5% from Germany (2020), 9.5% from Estonia (2018), 9.2% from Latvia (2020), 7.2% from Ireland (2018), 8.0% from Sweden (2019), 6.5% from Lithuania (2020), 5.1% from Belgium (2019) and 1.7% from Denmark (2019); 1.35 million kg was exported. Most is used in gardening and greenhouse horticulture. Since the Netherlands did not have many trees to use as firewood or charcoal, one use the Dutch made of the available peat was to fire kilns to make pottery. During World War II, the Dutch Resistance came up with an unusual use for peat. Since peat was so available in the fields, resistance fighters sometimes stacked peat into human-sized piles and used the piles for target practice. ===Estonia=== After oil shale, peat is the second-most-mined natural resource in Estonia. The peat production sector has a yearly revenue of around €100 million and it is mostly export-oriented. Peat is extracted from around . ===India=== ====Sikkim==== The mountains of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau contain pockets of high-altitude wetlands. Khecheopalri is one of the eastern Indian territory of Sikkim's most famous and diverse peatlands, with 682 species representing five kingdoms, 196 families and 453 genera. ===United Kingdom=== In 1999, the UK government set a target for the country's horticulture industry to become 90% peat-free by 2010. A number of environmental and horticultural organisations, coming together as the "Peat-free Partnership", have argued that legislation is needed to ban the sale of peat and products containing peat. ====England==== England has around 1 million acres of peatland. Peatlands in England store 584m tonnes of carbon in total but emit around 11 million tonnes of every year due to degradation and draining. In 2021 only 124 people owned 60% of England's peatland. The extraction of peat from the Somerset Levels began during the Roman times and has been carried out since the Levels were first drained. On Dartmoor, there were several commercial distillation plants formed and run by the British Patent Naphtha Company in 1844¹. These produced naphtha on a commercial scale from the high-quality local peat. Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses is an element of a post-Ice Age peat bog that straddles the England–Wales border and contains many rare plant and animal species due to the acidic environment created by the peat. Only lightly hand-dug, it is now a national nature reserve and is being restored to its natural condition. The industrial extraction of peat occurred at the Thorne Moor site, outside Doncaster near the village of Hatfield. Government policy incentivised commercial removal to peat for agricultural use. This caused much destruction of the area during the 1980s. The removal of the peat resulted in later flooding further downstream at Goole due to the loss of water retaining peatlands. Recently regeneration of peatland has occurred as part of the Thorne Moors project, and at Fleet Moss, organised by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. ====Northern Ireland==== In Northern Ireland, there is small-scale domestic turf cutting in rural areas, but areas of bogs have been diminished because of changes in agriculture. In response, afforestation has seen the establishment of tentative steps towards conservation such as Peatlands Park, County Armagh which is an Area of Special Scientific Interest. ====Scotland==== on the Isle of Lewis (Scotland) Some Scotch whisky distilleries, such as those on Islay, use peat fires to dry malted barley. The drying process takes about 30 hours. This gives the whiskies a distinctive smoky flavour, often called "peatiness". The peatiness, or degree of peat flavour, of a whisky is calculated in ppm of phenol. Normal Highland whiskies have a peat level of up to 30 ppm, and the whiskies on Islay usually have up to 50 ppm. In rare types like the Octomore, the whisky can have more than 100 ppm of phenol. Scotch Ales can also use peat-roasted malt, imparting a similar smoked flavor. Because they are easily compressed under minimal weight, peat deposits pose significant difficulties for building structures, roads and railways. When the West Highland railway line was constructed across Rannoch Moor in western Scotland, its builders had to float the tracks on a multi-thousand-ton mattress of tree roots, brushwood, earth and ash. ===Canada=== There are 294 million acres of peatland in Canada, with approximately 43,500 acres in production and another 34,500 acres involved in past production. The current and past acreage in production amounts to 0.03 percent of Canada's peatland. Canada is the top exporter of peat by value. In 2021, top exporters of peat (including peat litter), whether or not agglomerated, were Canada ($580,591.39K, 1,643,950,000 kg), European Union ($445,304.42K, 2,362,280,000 kg), Latvia ($275,459.14K, 2,184,860,000 kg), Netherlands ($235,250.84K, 1,312,850,000 kg), Germany ($223,414.66K, 1,721,170,000 kg). ==See also== Acid sulfate soil Acrotelm Climate change mitigation#Preserving and enhancing carbon sinks Gyttja Histosol Irish Peatland Conservation Council Lindow Man, also known as "Pete Marsh" List of bogs Peat Cutting Monday Tropical peat Turbary Unified Soil Classification System :Category:Peat-fired power stations ==References== ==External links== International Peatland Society International Mire Conservation Group Irish Peatland Conservation Council Gardening without peat Royal Horticultural Society Peat-free gardens RSPB Massive peat burn is speeding climate change From The New Scientist Peatlands articles on the BBC Meadowview Biological Research Station Peat and Peatlands Bibliography PeatDataHub - combining global peatland datasets

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