Effectiveness of Sphagnum Peat Moss in Purification of Water

Edge effects on decomposition in Sphagnum bogs: Implications for carbon storage

“…These species most likely mirrored the gradient in soil moisture, although the strong correlation between decomposition and E. nigrum was unexpected considering the plant's allelopathic properties might have affected the decomposer community negatively (Plathe, 2021). Plants with a negative correlation to decomposition, the Sphagnum mosses, Vaccinium oxycoccos , Carex species, D. rotundifolia , Rubus chamaemorus , and A. polifolia , were all plants associated with the bog itself, with the Sphagnum mosses responsible for some of the factors causing the bog to have a low decomposition rate in the first place (Mandal et al, 2018), and the other plants connected to low decomposition rates either associated with Sphagnum bogs or at least growing on waterlogged soils (Mossberg et al, 2003). Previous studies in terrestrial habitats have shown that a higher plant diversity leads to an increased decomposition (Ebeling et al, 2014; Tresch et al, 2019).…”

“…Decomposition rates are also reduced by the low pH in peat (Amesbury et al, 2019), causing many of the common decomposers to struggle. The latter is especially true in Sphagnum bogs (a type of ombrotrophic peatland; Rydin & Jeglum, 2013), where peat mosses exchange cations for hydrogen ions, which causes further acidification (Mandal et al, 2018). A low pH inhibits bacterial decomposition (Rousk et al, 2010), which decreases the decomposition rates, and the decomposer community is shifted toward fungi instead of bacteria (Blagodatskaya & Anderson, 1998).…”