What is a bog???

A bog is a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot. It accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material including mosses, especially sphagnum moss.  It is frequently covered in ericaceous shrubs rooted in the sphagnum moss and peat. A bog functions as a carbon sink because of the gradual accumulation of decayed plant material. It occurs where the water at the ground surface is acidic and low in nutrients. Water flowing out of bogs has a characteristic brown colour, which comes from dissolved peat tannins. Bogs have distinctive assemblages of plant and animal species, and are of high importance for biodiversity.