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Size and shape in raised mire ecosystems: a geophysical model

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Abstract

Raised mires are ecosystems in which waterlogged peat accumulates above the level of the surrounding stream system. It has been suggested that waterlogging is maintained by matric forces, but a model involving impeded drainage is in better accord with the structure of the peat and with basic tenets of soil physics. At one site from which enough hydrological and soil physical data are available to conduct a preliminary test, the elliptical shape and proportions of the mire surface profile are in agreement with this model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, The University, Dundee, DD1 4HN, UK

    H. A. P. Ingram

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  1. H. A. P. Ingram
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Ingram, H. Size and shape in raised mire ecosystems: a geophysical model. Nature 297, 300–303 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297300a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/297300a0

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