Publisher's Synopsis
Focusing on the geology, land use history, palaeoecology, ecology and conservation of peatlands (fens and bogs) in the Netherlands, this work provides accounts that give a representative picture of the studies that have been carried out in the Dutch mires over the last 25 years.;Following an introduction, the book first offers a comprehensive geographic and pedological account of peat formation in space and time in the western coastal plain. It goes on to describe the various stages of development from fen to bog of the Bourtanger Moor and to detail the history of peat draining, digging and dredging in the Netherlands and Flanders. The next chapter deals with bog remnants in the eastern Netherlands and northwestern Germany, and also includes data on oligotrophic heath pools which have a vegetation that is similar to that found in bogs. The work then focuses mainly on terrestrializing fens that are characteristic of the western Netherlands where they presently occur in turf ponds created by peat dredging in former centuries, and concludes with a treatment of problems with mire conservation and management.
