Details

• Dr. Alexandra Barthelmes, Greifswald University and Greifswald Mire Centre
• Date: Oct, 8, 2015 12:00 am
• Place: Sala d’Actes del Institut de Ciències de la Terra Jaume Almera(ICTJA)
• Location: C/ Solé i Sabarís s/n, Barcelona
• Contact: Santiago Giralt

Abstract

Peatlands are spread around the World, cover huge areas in the Boreal and Tropical regions and are present in all biomes and landscapes. These ecosystems occur in depressions, flood plains, coastal environments, at high altitudes or cover large extensions with peat blankets. The water origin and its chemical characteristics trigger the development of different kinds of mires (ecological and hydro-genetic types). In this presentation, the basic peatland types as ‘bog’ and ‘fen’ will be explained using the example of the peatlands present on the Azores islands. Due to the hampered decay under water saturated conditions, peatlands store huge amounts of organic matter. While growing up and storing organic matter from dead plants, mires capture environmental information:  plant and animal remains from the peatland itself (local source) and pollen and isotopes from the peatland and the atmosphere (regional source). Thus, peat records offer precious information for palaeo-ecological research to reconstruct environment, climate or human impacts. However, they have complex self-organisation and feedback mechanisms (also with their catchement area) that make the interpretation of peatland derived palaeo-data always a big challenge.