The luxuriance of a bog in its natural state as an index to the quality of its peat

Authors

• Viljo Puustjärvi Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Helsinki

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.71533

Abstract

From the viewpoint of the chemical properties of peats and of the cation uptake mechanism of plants the question has been considered to what extent it is possible to estimate the productivity after draining of a bog, using as a basis the luxuriance of the bog in its natural state and the richness in species of its calciphilous vegetation. The effect of draining upon the productivity of the peat has been studied from the viewpoint of the cation uptake mechanism of plants. The efficiency of this uptake has been thought to be determined by the electrical potential difference (E) between the boundary surfaces of the root and soil colloids: E = (RT/nF)*ln*([H+]root/[H+]soil) where [H+] stands for the activity of the respective hydrogen ions. In order that cation uptake of the plants should be possible, the hydrogen ion acitivity in the roots must exceed that in the soil, i.e., [H+]root/[H+]soil > 1. When a bog is drained, [H+]root remains approximately unchanged, while [H+]soil soil increases for the reason that the quantity of soil colloids per unit volume increases owing to the removal of water. The potential difference between root and soil colloids will thus become less and the cation uptage of the plants will become impeded, the more the higher the efficiency of draining. The theory presented in this work has been shown to account for several phenomena observed in connection with the draining of bogs, particularly the changes in surface vegetation and the relations between the base content of the bog and its natural luxuriance. The higher the water content of a bog in its natural state, the lower is the base content of the peat with which it attains a given degree of luxuriance.