A2 biology :) peat bog/peatlands

Peat is partially decomposed organic matter. It is created in wetland environments as this limits contact with oxygen and slows down the decomposition, due to this it is good at preserving 'stuff'.

If your post was more coherent I'd probably be able to help you more.

thanks - how are they created ?
and how do they contribute to the lessening of global warming ? in terms of co2

thanks for your help

Organic matter such as moss in wetland environments will eventually come to the end of it's life cycle, when it does this it will begin decomposing but due to the low amount of oxygen present it inhibits bacteria from respiring and slows down the rate of decomposition of this material. It collects as one mass and becomes known as peat.

Peat bogs effectively work as a carbon storage unit. If you drain peatland of its water the organic matter will all begin to decompose and release CO₂ into the atmosphere.

thanks so much ... this is just what i needed

Not a problem, it is always good being able to apply and use the knowledge that I have acquired.

aww, you did a level bio ?

Si señora, and then I took it to Undergraduate level

I did that paper. I had no idea what peat was. I didn't get a very good grade for it either. At least now I know

Not a problem, it is always good being able to apply and use the knowledge that I have acquired.

Hi, i have my exam this friday and was wondering, how is peat bog analyses for global warming predictions unreliable? i searched on google but can't seem to get anything. - could i say perhaps that pollen doesn't nesseesarily get carriied towards the peat bog, idk. thanks

Although they store carbon there is evidence that they release methane which is more potent than CO2 in terms of global warming. So it that sense you need to be able to accurately quantify the carbon uptake vs the methane release which is quite ambiguous. Thats for future predictions.

There are also uncertainties in climate reconstruction pollen analysis from peatlands as there are with all reconstructive sciences. If you think, pollen doesn't just fall to the ground and stay there. Wind and animals can move it which will alter the signal in that sense. You then have to rely on all host of other factors to try and decipher the pollen information. Also think that you may find an abundance of a particular pollen but if that particular plant releases large quantities of pollen then the numbers become less significant.

Does that help?