Upland peatlands - vegetation and habitats

What I believed was going to be a straightforward overview has instead turned into a learning curve penetrating the syntax of ecologists describing upland peatlands. It will be some time before 'soligenous mire' finds itself into the vernacular of hill walkers.

Bog cotton - Eriophorum vaginatum

In the UK plants have common names that vary from region to region and a scientific name, the common names are usually succinct, whilst the scientific name is usually not so succinct and in the dead language of latin. A common sedge of upland peatlands has the scientific name Eriophorum angustifolium which will mean little to many people who frequent the uplands unlike its common names: cotton-grass, cotton-sedge and bog cotton. The problem is that another common sedge of upland peatland is Eriophorum vaginatum has cotton like spikelets and a number of common names: tussock cottongrass, hare's-tail cottongrass, sheathed cottonsedge and bog cotton. Another common plant is Vaccinium myrtillus commonly known as blaeberry, blueberry, whortleberry, whimberry, whinberry and bilberry.  So to avoid confusion in this blog post I'll use the common plant name that I am familiar with and the scientific name italicised in brackets.

Wild camping in a bog - Moelwyns, Wales

Anyone who has wild camped in upland peatlands will be acutely aware of the tussocky nature of the vegetation, the benefits of long tent pegs, the enhanced comfort of an inflatable matt a couple of inches thick and the exponential increase in potential pitch sites if a tent incorporates a bathtub floor. The length of night between the Autumn and Spring equinoxes at higher latitudes, allows for plenty of reflection on the wisdom of gear purchases, choice of tent pitch and vegetation discomfort level.

Upland peatland ~ Arenigs, Wales

The image above illustrates the colour palette of an area of the Arenigs in autumn with vegetation identified by its autumnal colour: red patches signify bog cotton (Eriophorum angustifolium), the pale straw coloured patches are a tussock forming matgrass (Nardus stricta), on the image right is a crescent of yellow/green bog mosses (Sphagnum spp.) and the lower third of the image has a 'textured' appearance the colour of brown mustard indicating purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea) another tussock forming grass. The white dots are sheep in single file ascending an historic animal track that follows the line of least resistance.

Deergrass (Trichophorum cespitosum) and Purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea)  ~ Moidart, Scotland

The British National Vegetation Classification (NVC) is a ‘phytosociological’ classification solely on the basis of the plant species and no consideration is given to other site factors, although the NVC  recording form does include some site factors. Nonetheless it does serve to highlight the mosaic of vegetation communities and below are three illustrations taken from "An illustrated guide to British upland vegetation" where M = Mire. H = Heath. MG = Mesotrophic grassland U = Upland

Screen shot from An Illustrated Guide to British Upland Vegetation (2004) Averis, A., Averis, B., Birks, J., Horsfield, D., Thompson, D., & Yeo, M.,

Screen shot from An Illustrated Guide to British Upland Vegetation (2004) Averis, A., Averis, B., Birks, J., Horsfield, D., Thompson, D., & Yeo, M.,

Screen shot from An Illustrated Guide to British Upland Vegetation (2004) Averis, A., Averis, B., Birks, J., Horsfield, D., Thompson, D., & Yeo, M.,

From the laymans perspective the dominant vegetation of upland peatlands in the UK are in alphabetical order:bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), deergrass (Trichophorum cespitosum), heather (Calluna vulgaris), matgrass (Nardus stricta), purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea),  bog cotton (Eriophorum angustifolium / Eriophorum vaginatum) and bog mosses (Spaghnum spp.). From a practical perspective the vegetation is an indicator of how slow and character building the walking will be, as one author was moved to write:

"These are the wet grasslands that can make walking in the hills of Wales, Galloway and the western Highlands and Inner Hebrides so wearisome. The tall dense tussocks of Molinia caerulea, with long leaves blown into waves by the wind and rain, conceal a treacherous network of peaty channels and in some places small winding streams"

So the vegetation of upland peatlands can be a mosaic of vegetation communities, but at least there is agreement on some of the communities. Describing habitats in upland peatlands are more of a challenge. In the classic text 'Mountains and Moorlands' published in 1950, the introductory sentence to the chapter on 'Moorland and Bogs' was:

There is no good definition of moors and moorland. 

And there is still no exact definition today. The general consensus is that moorland is an uninhabited area of uncultivated infertile upland and the google street views below from Exmoor, Rannoch Moor and the Denbigh Moors, do support that consensus.



There are a seeming plethora of names given to habitats found in upland peatlands - valley mire, blanket mire, blanket bog, blanket peat, bog pool, wet heath, heather moor, bilberry moor, sedge moor, grass moor, upland grassland, wet grasslands, upland wetlands, topogenous mire, soligenous mire, ombrogenous blanket bog, lagg fen ... The situation is summed up by the National Biodiversity Network Habitats Dictionary which has this to say :

"Habitat classification is not like species classification. There is no clearly agreed ‘taxonomy’ and many different systems have been developed, often independently of each other and for different purposes. Although botanists have been classifying vegetation for the past century, habitat classification, which builds on the system of European vegetation classification so as to include abiotic features of the habitat, is a relatively new development. 

The need for a classification has several driving forces:

• establishment of habitat protection legislation

• inventory of habitats in a country, region, or site

• biodiversity monitoring and reporting

• or description of a species’ habitat requirements

Habitat classification systems which are scientific, unambiguous and easy to use are therefore required."

However after more syntax it finishes:

"The NBN Habitats Dictionary is currently unavailable."

So at that point it's probably best to await developments. The next post on upland peatlands will cover landscape photography and the issue of photogenic and photographic uplands.

Upland peatlands in the Arans ~ Wales