Abstract
Many approaches to the classification of peat-forming (mire) systems have been devised over the years, each with its own particular focus. The present review restricts itself to those classification systems which focus on peatlands as ecosystems. Such systems are in broad agreement that there is a significant ecological difference between mires which are waterlogged by groundwater or accumulated surface water, broadly known as ‘fens’, and mires which are waterlogged only through direct precipitation, broadly termed ‘bogs’. Within these broad concepts, however, mires have been variously classified according to their vegetation, their chemistry, their source of water and their hydromorphology. This last system of classification is widely employed, and its hierarchical, or ‘Tope’, approach offers the potential to incorporate other classification systems at various levels within the hierarchy.
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Lindsay, R. (2018). Peatland Classification. In: Finlayson, C.M., et al. The Wetland Book. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9659-3_341
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