Global ecosystem typology

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TF1.6 Boreal, temperate and montane peat bogs

Biome: TF1. Palustrine wetlands biome

Contributors:
(texts)

Peat bogs in the boreal-subarctic and temperate areas of the world account for up to 40% of the world’s soil carbon. They are landscape sponges, with highly specialised plant life including shrubs, sedges and mosses equipped to grow in acidic, nutrient-poor, low-oxygen, waterlogged soils. Sphagnum moss and other peat-forming plants are foundational to these ecosystems. Insects are the dominant animal group, along with amphibians, reptiles, rodents and a few visiting birds.

Key Features

Permanently ground water-logged (by rainwater-fed ground water,) nutrient poor, acidic sites on organic soils (peat); species poor, but high abundance of mosses, sedges and no to open woody species cover.

Overview of distribution

Boreal and temperate humid zones of the northern hemisphere, limited occurrences in the southern hemisphere (southern South America, southern Australasia).

Profile versions

  • v1.0 (2020-05-31): DA Keith; RT Kingsford; F Essl; LJ Jackson; T Tahvanainen
  • v2.0 (2020-06-17): DA Keith; RT Kingsford; F Essl; LJ Jackson; M Kelly-Quinn; KR Young; T Tahvanainen
  • v2.01 ():
  • v2.1 (2022-04-06): DA Keith; RT Kingsford; F Essl; LJ Jackson; M Kelly-Quinn; KR Young; T Tahvanainen Full profile available at official site

Main references

Selected references for this functional group:

  • Wieder RK, Vitt DH (2006) Boreal peatland ecosystems Ecological studies vol. 188. Springer-Verlag, Berlin

  • Palozzi JE, Lindo Z (2017) Boreal peat properties link to plant functional traits of ecosystem engineers Plant and Soil 418: 277-291

Diagrammatic assembly model

Diagrammatic assembly model of TF1.6 Boreal, temperate and montane peat bogs. See general notes on diagrams. Open image full size.

Maps

Maps are indicative of global distribution patterns are not intended to represent fine-scale patterns. The maps show areas of the world containing major (coloured red) or minor occurrences (coloured yellow) of each ecosystem functional group. See general notes on maps.

There are 2 alternative versions of the indicative map for this functional group, please compare description and sources below.

TF1.6.IM.orig_v1.0

Datasets

  • Resolve-Ecoregions-2017

Map references

  • Dinerstein E, Olson D, Joshi A, Vynne C, Burgess ND, Wikramanayake E, Hahn N, Palminteri S, Hedao P, Noss R, Hansen M, Locke H, Ellis EE, Jones B, Barber CV, Hayes R, Kormos C, Martin V, Crist E, Sechrest W, Price L, Baillie JEM, Weeden D, Suckling K, Davis C, Sizer N, Moore R, Thau D, Birch T, Potapov P, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A, de Souza N, Pintea L, Brito JC, Llewellyn Barnekow Lillesø JP, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Voge M, Al-Shammari KF, Saleem M (2017) An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience 67: 534–545. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix014. Data-set available on-line

TF1.6.web.orig_v1.0

Terrestrial ecoregions containing major or minor occurrences of this ecosystem functional group were identified by consulting available ecoregion descriptions (Dinerstein et al. 2017), global and regional reviews, national and regional ecosystem maps, locations of relevant examples, and proofed by expert reviewers. Consequently they are coarse-scale indicative representations of distribution, except where they occupy small ecoregions. Ecoregions were mapped at 30 arc second spatial resolution. Open image full size.

Datasets

  • Resolve-Ecoregions-2017

Map references

  • Dinerstein E, Olson D, Joshi A, Vynne C, Burgess ND, Wikramanayake E, Hahn N, Palminteri S, Hedao P, Noss R, Hansen M, Locke H, Ellis EE, Jones B, Barber CV, Hayes R, Kormos C, Martin V, Crist E, Sechrest W, Price L, Baillie JEM, Weeden D, Suckling K, Davis C, Sizer N, Moore R, Thau D, Birch T, Potapov P, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A, de Souza N, Pintea L, Brito JC, Llewellyn Barnekow Lillesø JP, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Voge M, Al-Shammari KF, Saleem M (2017) An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience 67: 534–545. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix014. Data-set available on-line

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