Peat: classification. What is the difference between upland peat and lowland peat?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

In nature, there are low-lying, transitional and high-moor peat. The name was not given to them by chance: it depends on the location of the raw material in the relief. The first type is typical for lowlands (floodplain and valley areas), the latter for elevations (slopes, watersheds, etc.). The transitional variant is found in special intermediate landforms such as terraces.

Classification

When developing the classification of this natural resource, its origin from a certain group of plants was taken into account. Each type (low-lying, transitional and high-moor peat) is subdivided into subtypes: forest, marsh, and forest-marsh. The latter, in turn, are divided into types depending on the prevailing organic residues (moss, grass and wood).

In the mechanisms of formation of the peat layer, an important role is played by plant groups, which in the process of evolution form a variety of combinations, called phytocenoses. Their formation is influenced by many factors, including soil moisture and topography. What is the difference between high peat andlowland? There is also a difference in the way of mineral nutrition.

Land peat

Plant communities of this type have the most mineral-rich nutrition, carried out by means of soil or rivers. Water has a s alt concentration of over 0.2 g/l, in some cases reaching 1 g/l. The environment has a medium pH (neutral, slightly acidic, sometimes slightly alkaline).

Lowland phytocenoses consist exclusively of flora demanding on the mineral composition of the soil. Trees (spruce, birch), shrubs (willow), grasses (sedges, horsetails) and mosses (hypnums) grow in these areas, which need a large amount of nutrients.

Transitional peat

In places where transitional phytogroups develop, the water balance changes: the importance of rain and melt water increases against the background of a decrease in the role of groundwater. Plants get a smaller amount of minerals from the earth. Their concentration in the soil ranges from 70 to 180 mg/l. The total ash content of the substrate is in the range of 4 to 5%, and the reaction of the medium becomes slightly acidic.

In the composition of transitional forms, there are representatives of the flora of lowland and upland types. The former have the lowest requirements for the amount of minerals in the substrate. Pines, heathers, sedges and sphagnum mosses grow. Of the latter, some prefer bumps, the rest prefer deepening between them.

High peat

The flora of this species includes only the mostrepresentatives of the plant world resistant to poor mineral nutrition. The ash content of the substrate here is less than 4%. Mineralization ranges from 40 to 70 mg/l. High-moor peat is acidic, its pH value is from 3.5 to 4.5.

One of the most significant representatives of the plant world of riding groups are larch, pine, heather shrubs, sheuchzeria, swamp sedge and some sphagnum mosses.

Peat development

The composition of the vegetation of any of the deposits changes over time. Over the years, the peat layer increases, which affects the living conditions. In particular, the mineral nutrition of the flora is deteriorating, and the importance of rains and melt waters is also increasing. Additional layers of peat gradually “cut off” plant communities from groundwater.

There is a gradual replacement of lowland groups by transitional, and then riding. This phenomenon is called succession. What is the difference between high and low peat? Their difference lies in age. The last one is the youngest.

Under the influence of climate change (the ratio of precipitation and solar heat), plant groups alternated over the millennia. During the dry period, forests predominated, and during the wet period, swamps prevailed. As a result, layered peat is formed, where each layer is an imprint of the next change in climatic conditions.

High peat and lowland peat have a different structure, so their air and water permeability indicators are different. The latter contains small particles,like greasy black sand. May be caking, crumbling. There are few air pockets in its structure. Water stagnation often occurs, which increases the risk of rotting of the root system. This is essential for sensitive plants in large pots. In such a container, any soil dries unevenly, and low-lying peat increases the risk of stagnant moisture in the thickness. This must be taken into account when using this substrate.

High peat has a looser structure, retaining the properties of plant fibers. It has more air, which is he althier for most potted crops from the tropics. This substrate resembles natural bedding.

For most plants, it is recommended to purchase high-moor peat in bags. It should not be diluted with ordinary earth and mixed with other components, since it already has a composition that is balanced in many respects.