Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombrotrophy) and from mineral salts introduced from the air. They thus represent a special type of bog, hydrologically, ecologically and in terms of their development history, in which the growth of peat mosses over centuries or millennia plays a decisive role. They also differ in character from blanket bogs which are much thinner and occur in wetter, cloudier climatic zones.
Raised bogs are very threatened by peat cutting and pollution by mineral salts from the surrounding land (due to agriculture and industry). The last great raised bog regions are found in western Siberia and Canada.
The term raised bog derives from the fact that this type of bog rises in height over time as a result of peat formation. They are like sponges of peat moss, full of water, that form a more or less dome shape in the landscape. In Germany, the term Hochmoor ("high bog"), strictly refers only to the classical, lens-shaped bogs of northwest Germany. The bogs are not influenced by mineral-rich groundwater or surface water, but are fed exclusively by precipitation — mainly rainwater, hence their alternative German designation of Regenmoor or "rain-fed bog". Thus the latter refers to all bogs, not just those that are arched or only slightly arched, but which nevertheless are characterized by an extreme mineral salt deficiency and other resulting ecological properties.
A living raised bog needs a moist, balanced climate in which to grow. The quantity of precipitation has to be greater than the water losses through discharge and evaporation. In addition, the precipitation must be evenly spread through the year.
Raised bogs in Europe have been developing for about 11,000 years, since the beginning of the Holocene and after the retreat of the last ice sheet.
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A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types of mires share the common characteristic of being saturated with water, at least seasonally with actively forming peat, while having their own ecosystem. Like coral reefs, mires are unusual landforms that derive mostly from biological rather than physical processes, and can take on characteristic shapes and surface patterning.
The Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge, Krušné hory) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: Keilberg) at above sea level and the Fichtelberg in Germany at . The Ore Mountains have been intensively reshaped by human intervention and a diverse cultural landscape has developed. Mining in particular, with its tips, dams, ditches and sinkholes, directly shaped the landscape and the habitats of plants and animals in many places.
Peat (piːt) is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient carbon sink on the planet, because peatland plants capture carbon dioxide (CO2) naturally released from the peat, maintaining an equilibrium.
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