There are five broad ‘mire’ types in Wales: raised bog, blanket bog, floodplain valley mire, transition mire and marshy grassland. The first two of these are described in the sections below, with reference states and modified states described where relevant. Valley mires and transition mires are described in the section on ‘Fens and swamps’, and marshy grassland has been described in the section covering ‘Grasslands’.
Mires
Raised bog
Raised bogs are ombrogenous, i.e. are fed by rainwater, as they develop on deep peat which forms a barrier between the bog surface and groundwater sources. The habitat is relatively scarce in Wales and there are no ‘pristine’ examples, they have all been modified to a greater or lesser extent by peat cutting and drainage,…
Blanket bog
Blanket bog forms on deep peat in areas with high levels of precipitation and low evapotranspiration, in Wales, these conditions occur mostly in the uplands of north and west Wales. Blanket bogs in the Welsh mountains lies over undulating as well as in wet hollows and often forms large scale mosaics with dry heath and…