MMyy RRaaiisseedd BBoogg CCoonntteennttss How Raised Bogs Grow 3 Raised Bogs are wetlands made of peat, plants and water Walking on Water 4 combined together. They occur in the midland counties and in the Bann River valley of Ireland. Peat Sphagnum Moss 5 is the result of the accumulation of partially decayed plants over What Lives in a Bog? 6 thousands of years. The dead plants don’t rot because they My Raised Bog - How many grow in waterlogged conditions Plants do you know? 8 where there is little oxygen.

Bog Pool Dipping 10

Bog Archive 11

Why are Raised Bogs Important? 12

Action You Can Take for Bogs 14

What Raised Bogs Can I Visit? 15

My Raised Bog Challenges 16 l l e n n o C Prepared by: Dr Catherine O’Connell ’ O

Cover images: Girley Bog, Co. Meath .

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Raised bogs formed in lakes left bog remains wet, that carbon is behind after the Ice Age 10,000 not released to the atmosphere years ago in the Irish midlands. as greenhouse gas. Bacteria and fungi - the agents of decay were prevented from Lake working in the waterlogged conditions found in such lakes. The lakes slowly filled with un-decomposed plant material which thickened into peat to fill Peat is forming in a lake basin the lake basin. Sedges invade the surface peat to form a fen. Fen Groundwater feeds the plants in the fen and a rich alkaline wetland habitat develops. Eventually the plants lose contact with the groundwater and Lake basin filled with fen peat rainwater becomes the main water source which means the Raised Bog peatland becomes acidic pH 4. In the mineral poor wetland Sphagnum mosses establish and grow rapidly laying down peat each year until it thickens to 10m depth or more. All of this peat is ! stored carbon and as long as the Raised bog with 10m of peat WWaallkkiinngg oonn WWaatteerr l l e n n o C ’ O AM . AZING C FACTS

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Walking on a raised bog is the closest you might ever get to being able to walk on water. This is because a raised bog is 90% water and only 10% solid earth. The ground is so soft that it takes three years for your foot print to disappear from the moss cushions. If you jump up and Squeezing the water out of down on the bog you can feel and Sphagnum moss © C. O’Connell even see it move, proof that it is really wet. can hold up to 20 times its own weight in water. When Sphagnum All of this water is stored in a mosses die their remains do not very powerful bog moss known as decay but collect as peat or turf. ! Sphagnum. It grows quickly and SSpphhaaggnnuumm MMoossss Without Sphagnum mosses there mosses grow tightly packed would be no raised bogs in together to form hummocks or Ireland. Bogs have a living cushions. These can be up to 1m surface which is made of a thin high on the bog and can be carpet of Sphagnum mosses. This chocolate brown or orange in is floating on a thick layer of colour. Scientists have counted partly rotted plant material or 50,000 Sphagnum plants in a peat that is soaking wet. This is hummock measuring one square why when you walk across the metre. Other Sphagna form loose surface of a bog it feels bouncy. mats in colours of pink, red, copper and yellow. Still others The carpet of Sphagnum mosses grow as single plants surrounded is not flat. Some Sphagnum by water in bog pools. These ones are bright green. Head (Capitulum) - the growing Structure of a point of bog Sphagnum Moss Plant moss A single Sphagnum plant is very small but has an interesting structure. The Hanging head or capitulum is the Branches pressed to the growing point of the moss. stem create a Attached to the stem are wick to help two types of branches - the draw water around moss spreading branches stick out plants to interlock with other plants. The hanging branches are Stem pressed to the stem and help to draw up water. Water is trapped between plants in a hummock, but it is also stored inside the plant itself Spreading Branches - in special containers called interlock cells. with other moss plants

A peat core from a raised bog showing the living Sphagnum layer above the m

c peat layer. 1 © C. O’Connell A leaf of a Sphagnum magnified to show the water storing cells and the green ! food-making cells inside. Structure of a Sphagnum Moss Plant © S. Anderson WWhhaatt lliivveess iinn aa BBoogg??

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! Painted Lady Red Grouse © F. Doyle © J. FitzGerald Hare © D. MacPherson The endangered Large Heath Butterfly depends on raised bog plants such as cross-leaved heath and bog cotton for its food.

The Emperor Moth flies in daylight and could be mistaken for a butterfly. You may find the caterpillars (called hairy mollies) of Merlin © F. Doyle the Fox moth or Oak Eggar Moth or a pure silk Emperor moth cocoon on the bog.

Frogs hunt on the bog surface but breed in bog pools laying clumps of frog spawn in spring. The Viviparous Lizard may be seen sunning itself on hummocks on warm days. Fox Moth Caterpillar © C. O’Connell Snipe, curlew, skylark and meadow pipit breed on bogs. With no trees these birds nest on the ground in hummocks. Some feed on insects while others probe the peat for food with their long beaks. Even birds of prey such as kestrel, buzzard or merlin will patrol the bog looking for small birds, freshly Skylark © F. Doyle hatched chicks or other animals. Red grouse feed on Ling Heather. They have a distinct “go back, go back” sounding call. Look for clumps of their sausage like droppings on the bog.

You are most likely to see the Irish Hare running away from you on the bog. Its droppings are straw coloured oval balls. Hare’s feed on Fox © É. de Buitléar bog cotton. Foxes, Badgers and Shrews make foraging journeys to the bog but they don’t live there.

Some plants go to extremes to live in bogs. Sundews are carnivorous and they trap insects in sticky fluid found at the tips of tentacles on their tiny leaves. The tentacles move to enclose the insect on the ! Viviparous Lizard © P. Foss leaf surface so that it can be eaten. MMyy RRaaiisseedd BBoogg -- HHooww MMaannyy PPllaannttss DDoo YYoouu KKnnooww??

© ll  © ll © © ll  © l  © ll  © l  C ne C e C ll C ne C el C e C el . O’Con . O’ Conn . O’Conne . O’ Con . O’Conn . O’ Conn . O’ Conn Ling Heather Crossed Leaved Heath Bog Rosemary Cranberry Long Leaved Sundew Round Leaved Sundew Bog Asphodel Calluna vulgaris Erica tetralix Andromeda polifolia Vaccinium oxycoccus Drosera anglica Drosera rotundifolia Narthecium ossifragum Fraoch Coiteann Fraoch Naoscaí Andraiméid Mónóg Drúchtín Móna Drúchtín Móna Sciollam na Móna

© l  © ll  © ll  © l  © l  ©  © ll  C el e C ne C el C el C. e . O’ Conn C. O’ Conn . O’ Con . O’ Conn . O’ Conn P. Farrell O’ Conn Bog Bean Many-flowered Bog Cotton Single-flowered Bog Cotton White Beak Sedge Deer Sedge Matchstick Lichen Pixie Cup Lichen Menyanthes trifoliata Eriophorum angustifolium Eriophorum vaginatum Rhynchospora alba Trichophorum cespitosum Cladonia floerkeana Cladonia pyxidata Báchrán Ceannbhán Ceannbhán Gaelach Gobsheisc Cíb Cheanngheal Caipín Dearg Cupán Móna

© l © l   © l  © l  © l  © l   C. el © ll C el ne C el C el C. ll O’ Conn P. Farre . O’ Conn C. O’ Con . O’ Conn . O’ Conn O’ Conne Antler-Horn Lichen Bearded Lichen Austin’s Bog Moss Red Bog Moss Feathery Bog Moss Rusty Bog Moss Soft Bog Moss Cladonia uncialis Cladonia portentosa Sphagnum austinii Sphagnum capillifolium Sphagnum cuspidatum Sphagnum fuscum Sphagnum tenellum Léicean Léicean Sfagnam Sfagnam Sfagnam Sfagnam Sfagnam

© © ll  l  © ll  © l  © ll  © l  © ll  C. e C. el C. e C el C ne C el C e O’ Conn O’ Conn O’ Conn . O’ Conn . O’ Con . O’ Conn . O’ Conn Lustrous Bog Moss Magellanic Bog Moss Papillose Bog Moss Heath Plait-Feather Moss Heath-Spotted Orchid Purple Moor Grass Tormentil Sphagnum subnitens Sphagnum magellanicum Sphagnum papillosum Hypnum jutlandicum Dactylorhiza maculata Molinia caerulea Potentilla erecta Sfagnam Sfagnam Sfagnam Cleitchaonach Na Circíní Fionnán Néalfartach BBoogg PPooooll DDiippppiinngg Carnivorous flying insects, such example: water scorpion, water as dragonflies and damselflies, beetle, water boatman, hoglouse, hunt over bogs catching midges shrimp and and mosquitoes. They lay their tadpoles. eggs under water in bog pools. Other mini The larvae spend three years beasts developing in the pool. They are inhabit the ferocious predators. After this surface water R l time they emerge from the pond of the pool a l ft e to become a flying insect and such as pond S n p on id ’C exploit a new habitat for food. skaters and the er © C. O Within bog pools there is a rich hunting raft diversity of mini beasts for spider (Dolomedes fimbriata).

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!" Dragonfly Larva Four-spot Chaser Great Diving Beetle © N. Madigan Dragonfly © T. Whyte © N. Madigan TThhee BBoogg AArrcchhiivvee More than peat is preserved in keep it fresh for use at a later bogs. Stumps of trees and stage. Under the peat the remains wooden or leather artefacts such of the Great Irish Elk have been as tools, clothing and boats have found. Millions of seeds and pollen been preserved; even the bodies grains are also preserved in the of people who lived thousands of peat. By analysing these we can years ago. The wetness of the see when the first farmers arrived peat and the lack of oxygen are in the midlands and how the the reason why perishable items forests colonised the land after are preserved. Another great the ice age. Even volcanic ash or example is bog butter which tephra from the Islandic Hekla farmers of old stored in the bog to eruptions is found in bogs. Steps in Time from 0 to 10,000 years ago and Peat Depths

Present Day 0 Irish Famine 155-159

Book of Kells 1,200

Corlea Trackway 2,148

Iron Age 2,650

First Metalworkers 4,500

Tomb Builders 5,000

First Farmers 6,000

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n R n B a l o o l i l ’C g e w n a O B n y . u o Fi C tt ’C !! xings © er © C. O First Settlers 10,000 years ago WWhhyy aarree RRaaiisseedd BBooggss IImmppoorrttaanntt?? Raised bogs are (or were) What has it to do with me? common in Ireland and scarce in People use peat. Turf is cut and Europe. They occur in few other dried for a home fuel - a tradition places in the world. Raised bog carried on for hundreds of years habitats need protecting, just like in Ireland. At first turf was cut the tropical rainforests. and dried by hand but today machinery is used to cut the turf When raised bogs disappear, we which is then spread out to dry. lose more than a source of fuel, About 60 years ago the peat moss peat and a unique habitat: industry began. Machines were we lose a natural environmental invented to mill peat which is regulator. Bogs hold rainwater used to make (just like a sponge), which electricity. On top reduces floods. The water is of that peat, rich released during droughts. As they in Sphagnum

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s © 10% of that area has a value for gardening. With t r i m a r nature conservation. Sites are the climate in l a p f e d protected through conservation crisis we need to a in tl w designation. Land owners are rewet any peat and and compensated for not cutting turf reserves remaining in the designated sites and for to prevent them MY RAIS assisting with their restoration. leaking ED BOG CHALLENGE Communities are advised on how greenhouse P lay your part. to safeguard raised bogs and on gases which Take a My how best to use them for damage our Raised Bog c recreation and education. environment. hallenge (see !" back cover) AAccttiioonn YYoouu CCaann TTaakkee ffoorr BBooggss Get Stuck In - Help Block on line at www.ipcc.ie. Join the Drains Hop to It Irish Frog Survey. Rewetting damaged raised bogs means bringing the water table Bog Habitat Transplant back up to the surface. This is Re-introducing Sphagnum moss achieved by blocking up old to areas of raised bogs that have no plant cover helps their restoration. Sphagnum moss is transplanted from a donor site onto freshly prepared peat. The plants are covered with living

Volunteers blocking drains on Girley Bog © T Ó Corcora drains and removing any trees 2015 that can suck water from open parts of the bog. Even forestry plantations on raised bogs are being felled so that the bogs can be allowed to grow again. Some work needs special machinery but small jobs can be carried out by trained volunteers. Contact your 2018 local youth group or your local Sphagnum moss transplant - Spot the bog group through the differences after 3 years. Community Wetlands Forum to © C. O’Connell see what you can do to help. strands of moss and protected with a layer of straw. After 3-5 Citizen Scientists Wanted years the moss regenerates Each year the Irish Peatland covering the bare peat and conservation preventing further loss of the Council record peat soil (which frogs and is carbon) and frogspawn wildlife. By AMAZING FACTS seen on raised volunteering For incredible bogs and on bog facts and other community information wetlands. projects you visit w Records can can help with ww.ipcc.ie !" be submitted bog transplants. Like Raised Bogs describes the Spread the word about how great work that raised bogs are for you. needs to be Remember done to bring My Raised Bog = Water the bogs back My Raised Bog = Wildlife to good My Raised Bog = Carbon Store health. Read My Raised Bog = Flood Control more at My Raised Bog = A Day in the Wild www.npws.ie and www.raised bogs.ie.

Save the Bogs Campaign The campaign to save a representative sample of Ireland’s peatlands for people to enjoy now and in the future began over 35 years ago. It is run by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) - an environmental NGO. IPCC

Bringing Raised Bogs Home Composting household waste cuts out the need to purchase bags of moss peat from a garden centre for use in your garden. Moss peat is harvested from raised bogs and this removes the carbon and greenhouse gas store that took thousands of years to build in the bog.  Protect biodiversity and fight the climate crisis by restoring, Planning for the Future managing and conserving The National Parks and Wildlife peatland habitats and wildlife. Service of the Department of  Help Irish people save bogs and Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht live sustainably through have developed a plan to protect education, training and raised bogs for Irish people. This fundraising for essential projects. document sets a target area for Read more at www.ipcc.ie. !" conservation of raised bogs and WWhhaatt RRaaiisseedd BBooggss CCaann II VViissiitt?? Because of their waterlogged sensitive bog surface from nature, access to raised bogs can trampling. Respect wildlife and be difficult; however several bogs privately-owned lands. have boardwalks or walking Leave No Trace. tracks to help protect the Above all enjoy your experience.

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 I took part in  I’ve decided not to use International moss peat in my Bog Day garden and to recycle organic material to make my  I volunteered own compost to help restore my local raised bog

 I gave a talk I shared my  about my raised bog raised experience on I went pond  bog to social media dipping to discover wildlife in ...... bog pools

 I’ve worked out the age of my raised bog  I’m going to use less electricity to help reduce my carbon footprint  I found frogs and frogspawn in my raised bog and sent my records to the Hop To It Frog Survey