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Blanket bog

From Tilcayo Cats, the lean encyclopaedia by Tilcayo Knowledge Systems

A blanket bog is a peatland that spreads over flat ground and gentle hillsides, covering the landscape like a blanket.[1] It is a globally restricted habitat, found only in cool, wet, usually oceanic climates.[2] Blanket bogs form where there is high rainfall and little water is lost through evaporation, so that peat can build up across large areas of ground.[3]

Features

Blanket bogs are fed only by rain and other precipitation, which makes them low in nutrients and acidic.[4] According to the UK Biodiversity Action Plan description (2008), the peat is typically 0.5 to 3 metres deep, but depths of more than 5 metres are not unusual,[5] and blanket bog can cover whole landscapes, even on slopes of up to 30 degrees.[6] Most blanket peat began forming 5,000 to 6,000 years ago.[7] Sphagnum mosses usually carpet healthy bogs.[8]

Where it is found

In the United Kingdom, blanket bogs are found in the north and west, from Devon in the south to Shetland in the north.[9] Within the European Union, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) says they occur mainly in the UK and Ireland, though much less survives in Ireland than before.[10] The IUCN UK Peatland Programme describes blanket bog as globally rare and says Britain and Ireland hold 20 per cent of the world's blanket bog.[11] In 2024 UNESCO made the Flow Country a World Heritage Site, the first peatland to receive that status.[12]

Protection and threats

"Active" blanket bog, meaning bog that still has a significant area of peat-forming vegetation, is a priority habitat under the European Community Habitats Directive.[13] In Scotland, the extent of blanket mire fell by 21 per cent between the 1940s and the 1980s, and planting forests was the largest single cause, accounting for 51 per cent of the loss.[14] When blanket bogs are damaged, grasses and shrubs can take over and they may begin to look like heathland.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Blanket bog". IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Retrieved 20 October 2026. A blanket bog is a peatland that stretches over flat plains and gently sloping hillsides, covering the landscape like a blanket.
  2. ↑ Ant Maddock, ed. (2008). "UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Habitat Descriptions: Blanket Bog" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2026. Blanket bog is a globally restricted peatland habitat confined to cool, wet, typically oceanic climates.
  3. ↑ "7130 Blanket bogs". Special Areas of Conservation. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2026. These extensive peatlands have formed in areas where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration
  4. ↑ "Blanket bog". IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Retrieved 20 October 2026. Blanket bogs are ombrotrophic (fed only by precipitation) which makes them nutrient-poor and acidic
  5. ↑ Ant Maddock, ed. (2008). "UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Habitat Descriptions: Blanket Bog" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2026. Peat depth is also very variable, with an average of 0.5–3m being fairly typical but depths in excess of 5m not unusual.
  6. ↑ Ant Maddock, ed. (2008). "UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Habitat Descriptions: Blanket Bog" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2026. can cloak whole landscapes, even developing on slopes of up to 30°.
  7. ↑ Ant Maddock, ed. (2008). "UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Habitat Descriptions: Blanket Bog" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2026. Studies indicate that most blanket peat development began 5,000–6,000 years ago
  8. ↑ "Blanket bog". IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Retrieved 20 October 2026. Sphagnum mosses typically carpet healthy bogs
  9. ↑ "7130 Blanket bogs". Special Areas of Conservation. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2026. Blanket bogs are found in the north and west of the UK, extending from Devon in the south to Shetland in the north.
  10. ↑ "7130 Blanket bogs". Special Areas of Conservation. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2026. In the EU, Blanket bogs are found primarily in the UK and Ireland, but the extent of surviving habitat is now much reduced in Ireland.
  11. ↑ "Blanket bog". IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Retrieved 20 October 2026. Blanket bog is globally rare , but Britain and Ireland hold 20% of the world's blanket bog
  12. ↑ "Blanket bog". IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Retrieved 20 October 2026. In 2024, the Flow Country was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO , making it the first and only peatland World Heritage Site in the World.
  13. ↑ Ant Maddock, ed. (2008). "UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Habitat Descriptions: Blanket Bog" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2026. the EC Habitats Directive priority habitat 'active' blanket bog, the definition of active being given as 'still supporting a significant area of vegetation that is normally peat forming'.
  14. ↑ Ant Maddock, ed. (2008). "UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Habitat Descriptions: Blanket Bog" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2026. a 21% reduction in the extent of blanket mire between the 1940s and the 1980s. The greatest single cause of this reduction (51%) is afforestation
  15. ↑ "Blanket bog". IUCN UK Peatland Programme. Retrieved 20 October 2026. degraded blanket bogs can begin to resemble heathlands
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