The Biology of Peatlands (Biology of Habitats)

书籍介绍(英文)

The Biology of Peatlands provides a comprehensive overview of peatland ecosystems. Coverage is international although there is a focus on boreal and north temperate peatlands. As a well as thoroughly referencing the latest research, the authors expose a rich older literature where an immense repository of natural history has accumulated.
The book begins with an overview of the main peatland types (marsh, swamp, fen and bog), which provides the basis for a deeper understanding of the subject. Chapters then follow on the diversity of the entire range of biota present (microbes, invertebrates, plants, and vertebrates), together with their specific adaptations to peatland habitats. Detailed coverage is devoted to the moss genus Sphagnum, one of the most important functional plant groups in northern peatlands. Throughout the book, the interactions between organisms and environmental conditions (especially wetness, availability of oxygen, and pH) are stressed. In the study of peatland biology, it is essential to learn about peat itself and how its accumulation reflects the history and development of peatland over centrueies and millennia. The book therefore contains chapters on the physical and chemical characteristics of peat, the role of peat as an archive of past vegetation and climate, and peatland successiona dn development. Several other key factors and precesses are then examined including hydrology, nutrient cycling, light, and temperature. The authors describe the intriguing patterns and landforms characteristic of peatlands in different parts of the world, together with theories on how they have developed. The role of peatlands as sources or sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane, and their influence on climatic change, is also outlined. A final chapter considers peatland management, conservation and restoration issues.
This accessible text is suitable for students and researchers of peatlands as well as the professional ecologists and conservation biologists requiring a concise, authoritative and up-to-date overview of the topic.


泥炭地的生物提供了泥炭地生态系统的全面概述。覆盖国际虽然有一个北温带和寒带泥炭地的重点。作为一个彻底的引用，以及最新的研究中，作者揭露丰富的旧文献那里的自然历史，积累了巨大的仓库。
这本书的一个主要类型概述开始泥炭地（沼泽，沼泽，芬和沼泽），其中规定了这个问题的深入了解的基础。章则对目前的生物多样性，遵循一整套（微生物，无脊椎动物，植物和脊椎动物），连同给泥炭地栖息地的具体适应。详细的报道是致力于泥炭藓，最重要的功能，在北部泥炭苔藓植物属群体之一。在本书中，生物与环境之间的相互作用的条件（尤其是湿度，氧气供应，和pH值）的强调。在泥炭地生物学研究，必须了解自己和泥炭的积累如何反映历史和千年以上centrueies和泥炭地发展。因此，这本书载有关于泥炭的物理和化学特性的章节，作为过去的植被与气候档案的作用泥炭，泥炭地successiona的DN和发展。其他几个关键因素和进动，然后检查，包括水文，养分循环，光，和温度。作者介绍了有趣的模式和地貌在世界不同地区的特征泥炭地，再加上它们是如何发展的理论。作为来源或atmos汇泥炭地的作用