Biology of Peatlands.
Title:
Biology of Peatlands.
Author:
Jeglum, John K.
ISBN:
9780191513671
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (354 pages)
Series:
Biology of Habitats
Contents:
CONTENTS -- LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS -- 1 Peatland habitats -- Wetlands, peatlands, and mires -- Peatland habitats along wetness and chemical gradients -- Origin of groundwater and trophic classes -- The main ecosystems: marsh, swamp, fen, bog -- Environmental ordination -- Frameworks for finer classification of peatlands -- 2 Diversity of life in peatlands -- Fungi and microorganisms -- Protozoans -- Algae -- Lichens -- Plants -- Animals -- 3 Adaptations to the peatland habitat -- Plant adaptations to flooding and anoxic conditions -- Plant adaptations to low nutrient availability -- Adaptations in animals -- 4 Sphagnum - the builder of boreal peatlands -- Morphology -- Sphagnum life cycle -- Diversity of Sphagnum -- Sphagnum characteristics -- Sphagnum as an environmental indicator -- Biological interactions in Sphagnum -- Dispersal and colonization -- Dynamics and persistence in Sphagnum assemblages -- 5 Peat and organic soil -- Sedentation versus sedimentation -- Organic versus mineral matter content -- Botanical composition of peat -- Sampling the peat profile -- Peat properties -- Organic soils (histosols) -- 6 The peat archives -- Peat fossils -- The problem of dating profiles -- Peatlands as archives of changes in climate and vegetation -- Geographic shifts in vegetation -- Pleistocene peatlands -- Environmental research -- Wetland archaeology -- 7 Peatland succession and development -- Peatland succession -- Successional pathways -- Processes of peat formation -- Detailed sequences of peatland development -- Cyclic regeneration - a myth? -- 8 Hydrology of peatlands -- Water quantity -- Acrotelm and catotelm -- Water balance -- Peatlands as regulators of water flow -- Water quality -- Variation in water chemistry along the bog - rich fen gradient -- 9 Nutrients, light, and temperature -- Nutrients -- Light.
Temperature and other climatic factors -- 10 Peatland patterns and landforms -- Hydrologic systems -- Landform and hydromorphology -- Mire descriptions and classifications at different scales -- The formation of peatland patterns -- 11 Peatlands around the world -- Areas of peatland -- Peatland areas used for agriculture, forestry, and peat harvesting -- A brief global survey -- Peatlands in Tierra del Fuego -- Restiad bogs in New Zealand -- Tropical peatlands in south-east Asia -- 12 Productivity and carbon balance -- Biomass and productivity -- Decomposition -- Peat formation and carbon flow -- Peat accumulation and its limits -- Carbon store in peatlands -- Effect of drainage and forestry on C balance -- 13 Uses, functions, and management of peatlands -- Historical development of peatland use -- Agriculture on peatland -- Forestry on peatland -- Peat extraction -- Functions and values -- Management of peatlands -- Peatland societies and organizations -- REFERENCES -- GLOSSARY -- A -- B -- C -- D -- F -- G -- H -- I -- L -- M -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- W -- INDEX -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z.
Abstract:
The Biology of Peatlands provides a comprehensive overview of peatland ecosystems. Coverage is international although there is a focus on boreal and north temperate peatlands. As well as thoroughly referencing the latest research, the authors expose a rich older literature where an immense repository of natural history has accumulated. The book begins with an overview of the main peatland types (marsh, swamp, fen and bog), which provides the basis for a deeper understanding of the subject. Chapters then follow on the diversity of the entire range of biota present (microbes, invertebrates, plants, and vertebrates), together with their specific adaptations to peatland habitats. Detailed coverage is devoted to the moss genus Sphagnum, one of the most important functional plant groups in northern peatlands. Throughout the book, the interactions between organisms and environmental conditions (especially wetness, availability of oxygen, and pH) are stressed. In the study of peatland biology, it is essential to learn about peat itself and how its accumulation reflects the history and development of peatland over centuries and millennia.The book therefore contains chapters on the physical and chemical characteristics of peat, the role of peat as an archive of past vegetation and climate, and peatland succession and development. Several other key factors and processes are then examined including hydrology, nutrient cycling, light, and temperature. The authors describe the intriguing patterns and landforms characteristic of peatlands in different parts of the world, together with theories on how they have developed. The role of peatlands as sources or sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane, and their influence on climatic change, is also outlined. A final chapter considers peatland management, conservation and restoration issues. This accessible
text is suitable for students and researchers of peatlands as well as the professional ecologists and conservation biologists requiring a concise, authoritative and up-to-date overview of the topic.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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