Now that we made in to our peatlands, let’s talk about why they are important. I bet most of you are not familiar with peatlands, and that’s why I’m here! I had never heard about "peat," also know as "turfa" in Portuguese, before moving to Canada and starting this project. The only way to help conserving peatlands is getting to know about them a little more, so I hope you enjoy this journey with me!
The peatlands are important ecosystems that accumulate partially decomposed vegetation, thus store carbon contained in the decomposing plant material. Peatlands cover around three percent of the Earth’s surface and are the world's largest terrestrial carbon stores! They are found across the globe in warm and cold regions.
The main plant type there is moss. Moss are small, slow-growing plants that need a lot of water to survive because they do not have real roots. They also decompose very slowly in peatlands after they die. This is mainly what makes peatlands so important for storing carbon. The tiny mites living in peatlands are also important in decomposition there. You can read more about them here!
