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Bogs

What is a bog?

Bogs are peatlands that have deep deposits of poorly decomposed organic material (referred to as peat). They are elevated above the surrounding terrain and receive water and most nutrients from precipitation.

Ecological benefits

  • Due to deep organic deposits, bogs store large amounts of carbon and help to moderate climate change
  • Important habitat for the threatened woodland caribou
  • Important water storage/recharge areas on the landscape that release water in dry periods and store water in wet periods
Diagram of a bog

Types of Bogs

  • Treed bogs: sparsely vegetated and stunted (<10 m) black spruce with sphagnum moss and low-lying shrubs
  • Shrubby bog: low-lying shrubs and sphagnum moss
  • Open bog: sphagnum moss dominated with sparse non-woody vegetation

Vegetation

  • Low plant diversity due to lack of nutrients
  • Tree and ground lichens can be abundant

Hydrology

  • Water source: precipitation from snow and rain
  • Stagnant, non–flowing systems isolated from surface run-off and groundwater/nutrients
  • The capillary action of sphagnum moss maintains the water table at or below the ground surface

Soil

  • Peat deposits accumulate over long periods of time because decomposition is very slow in the wet, cool, anoxic (oxygen-deprived) environment
  • Two distinct peat layers
    • Acrotem – living top layer (30-50cm)
    • Catotelm – lower, non-living layer

Types of wetlands

Canada’s wetlands can be broadly categorized into two types: organic and mineral.

Organic wetlands

Otherwise known as peatlands, these wetlands have an abundance of peat accumulation on which organic soils (excluding Folisols) are developed. These types of wetlands can include swamps, marshes, or shallow open-water wetlands.

Bogs

Bogs

Bogs are peatlands that have deep deposits of poorly decomposed organic material (referred to as peat). They are elevated above the surrounding terrain and receive water and most nutrients from precipitation.

Fens

Fens

Fens are peatlands with deep organic deposits and are influenced by slow, lateral water movement. Often referred to as “muskeg,” fens are the most extensive wetlands in the western boreal forest.

Mineral wetlands

Mineral wetlands are found in locations where there is an excess of water on the surface and where there is little or no organic matter or peat due to geomorphic, hydrologic, biotic, edaphic (soil-related), or climatic causes. These wetlands are distinguished by gleysolic soils or peaty phases of these soils.

Marshes

Marshes

Marshes are wetlands periodically inundated by standing or slowly moving water and creating nutrient-rich soil.

Swamps

Swamps

Most commonly recognized as shoreline areas of streams, lakes and floodplains, swamps are either treed or shrubby.

Shallow open-water wetlands

Shallow open-water wetlands

Shallow open-water wetlands have water depths of less than two metres, yet are too deep for emergent marsh vegetation to establish.