What is Bog?
[[Image:MerBleueBog2.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Mer Bleue Bog, a typical peat bog, in eastern Ontario]] [[Image:Sarracenia purpurea westphalia.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Carnivorous plants are often found in bogs. Capturing insects provides nitrogen and phosphorus, which are usually scarce in such conditions.]] A '''''bog''''' is a [[wetland]] where [[peat]] builds up. Peat is layers of dead [[plant]] material&mdash;often [[moss]]es, in most cases, ''[[Sphagnum]]'' moss.<ref name=Keddy>Keddy P.A. 2010. [https://www.amazon.com/Wetland-Ecology-Conservation-Paul-Keddy/dp/0521739675 ''Wetland ecology: principles and conservation''.] 2nd ed, Cambridge University Press.</ref> It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include '''mire''', '''quagmire''' and '''muskeg'''. Frequently, as the illustration on the right shows, they are covered in [[Ericaceae|Ericaceous]] shrubs rooted in the Sphagnum moss and peat. The gradual buildup of decayed plant material in a bog forms a [[carbon sink]].<ref name=NYT10612>{{cite news|title=British soil is battlefield over peat, for bogs' sake|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/science/earth/british-gardeners-battle-over-peat-for-bogs-sake.html|access-date=October 7, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 6, 2012}}</ref> Bogs occur where the water at the ground surface is [[acid]]ic and low in [[nutrients]]. In some cases, the water is entirely from [[precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]], in which case they are (rain-fed). Water flowing out of bogs has a characteristic brown colour, which comes from dissolved peat [[tannin]]s. In general, the low fertility and cool climate results in relatively slow plant growth, but decay is even slower because of the saturated soil. So, the amount of peat increases. Large areas of landscape can be covered many meters deep in peat.<ref name=Keddy/><ref>Gorham E. 1957. The development of peatlands. ''Quarterly Review of Biology''. '''32''', 145–166.</ref> Bogs have a distinctive group of plant and animal species an