Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Humans are drying out Europe’s ancient peat bogs

Climate change and peat cutting are altering ecosystems, some of them centuries old.
Peat Bog, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland.

Stacks of peat, which was traditionally burnt for heating and cooking, dot an Irish bog. Peat cutting has contributed to widespread drying of European peat bogs. Credit: Tim Graham/Getty

Peatlands across Europe have experienced substantial drying in the past few centuries and might be on the brink of shifting from carbon sinks to carbon sources.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 574, 601 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03156-5

References

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links