Date: Thu, 2 Jan 97 11:01:23 UT From: "Christopher Walkden" <Christow@msn.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg6$foo@default> Subject: re: sphagnum
We have sphagnum growing here in our highlands, I visited some on a Geology
excursion once. We were taking core samples of a small bog (we had special
permision from the appropriate government authorities!) to work out it's shape
and recent history. The bog is near Wild Dog River, so we christened it Wild
Dog Bog. It turned out that a glacier had carved out the rock about 12,000
years ago, leaving lots of sharp sand on the bottom (our corer couldn't go
through anything heavier than sand, so we didn't see below that). Since then
the bog has slowly built up with Sphagnum moss and other highland plants. It
built up about 5m of peat in 12,000 years! (we carbon dated some peat near the
bottom, so that date may be way out). The water level in the bog in the
middle of winter was about half a metre below the surface, so it certainly
wasn't drowning. We have wet winters and dry summers here.
Something that I have noticed with my sphagnum at home is that it grows well
over the winter, but struggles during the summer. Up in the highlands the
temperature variation would be about -5\260C to 15\260C in the winter, and more like
5\260C to 20\260C in the summer. Down here it is a bit warmer, and gets a lot
drier. I suppose the moss doesn't like the drying winds (all my CPs are
outside). BTW the moss I am talking about at home is sitting in the tops of
the pots of CPs. In the winter it threatens to overwhelm, in the summer it
threatens to dry out and die (it goes black and burnt looking on the tips).
Christopher Walkden
Tasmania Australia.
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