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Size and shape in raised mire ecosystems: a geophysical model

Abstract

Raised mires are ecosystems in which waterlogged peat accumulates above the level of the surrounding stream system. It has been suggested that waterlogging is maintained by matric forces, but a model involving impeded drainage is in better accord with the structure of the peat and with basic tenets of soil physics. At one site from which enough hydrological and soil physical data are available to conduct a preliminary test, the elliptical shape and proportions of the mire surface profile are in agreement with this model.

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Ingram, H. Size and shape in raised mire ecosystems: a geophysical model. Nature 297, 300–303 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297300a0

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