Wetland Word of the Week 23
The wetland word of the week is...
... BOG. This is a peat-based acidic wetland which receives water from rainfall rather than groundwater typically. It comes from a Scottish Gaelic word for 'flabby and soft' that is also used to mean 'flat' in music.
Bogs are widely distributed in the northern hemisphere in, unsurprisingly, cold and temperate places and are more rarely found in the global south. It is hard to rigidly define bogs because of the nature of being wetlands: somewhere between land and water. Throughout history, as with many types of wetlands, bogs have been drained to use the peat for fuel and to improve the land for forestry and agriculture. It can be hard to restore peatlands after draining because peat takes so long to accumulate.
A lot of work has gone in to restore a local bog, Longbridge Muir. Now an SSSI, Longbridge Muir was previously drained and conifer trees were planted on it as commercial forestry. The trees have now all been removed and work is onoging to increase the 'wetness' of the area.
Words by Marianne Nicholson
Feature image of bog on Islay by Sacha Dench
