Deadman's Bog: Nature's Sponge

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     The ride was bumpy, to say the least. As we traveled down what seemed to be the roughest two-track in northern Michigan, the van jostled about, fishtailing through sand and scraping against branches. Eventually, we came to a shuddering halt in an open meadow surrounded by trees. As I removed my stiff legs from the tangle of seatbelts in the back of the van, I caught the first glimpse of our collection area. The centerpiece was Deadman's bog, a wide expanse of sphagnum moss (Sphagnum sp.)  covered by extensive patches of shrubby leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata). At the bog's center lay Deadman's lake, open water that the bog had not yet claimed. The surrounding area was a patchwork of White Pine forests, open grassland, and young stands of dense Aspen. Prime area for insect hunting. As we dispersed in search of interesting specimens, the sun shone from a cornflower-blue sky while a slight wind ruffled the flower-laden shrubs. Bees and their mimics buzzed about, and Tiger Swallowtail butterflies floated on the gentle breeze. 


Deadman's Bog, photo courtesy of Braden DeWeerd

    Typical northern bogs are unique wetland ecosystems defined by poor drainage and peat soil covered by sphagnum mosses and shrubs  ("Michigan Natural Features Inventory," no date). They are common in areas that were covered by glaciers during the Pleistocene Epoch when massive chunks of ice carved out depressions that would later fill with water to form kettle lakes that would develop into bogs (Britannica, "bog," 2022). Sphagnum mosses are present in all northern bogs and are accomplished ecosystem engineers. Their cellular structure includes large compartments with exterior openings, allowing them to absorb massive quantities of water. Peat, the substrate underlying the living plants, is largely composed of slowly decaying moss and is a prodigious water sink. In some bogs, its water content may reach as high as 90 percent. Because of the peat's water-absorbing qualities, bogs sequester rainwater and runoff, preventing erosion of surrounding soils and preventing flooding (Britannica, "bog," 2022). 


Sphagnum moss water-retention cells, photo courtesy of Carlos Brais Carballeira and Wikipedia


    Sphagnum mosses also acidify bogs by absorbing basic calcium and magnesium cations from the soil. In combination with acids produced by the decomposition process and sequestered from the atmosphere, the ions left by the mosses may push the bog's pH below 5 (Priest, 2012). The acidic and anoxic conditions created by the sphagnum slow decomposition to a crawl, which is how peat accumulates to form a bog (for an interesting video about bogs preserving human remains, click here). The soil's acidity is largely responsible for the relatively low biodiversity within these wetland ecosystems. Few plants are capable of surviving such conditions, and there are not enough species present to support a high diversity of vertebrate herbivores ("Michigan Natural Features Inventory," no date). However, many insect species can be found in bogs and are important prey species for both vertebrate predators and predaceous plants (National Geographic Society, 2022). Without the insect trophic levels, bog ecosystems would not be able to support the already limited biodiversity that currently inhabits them.

    Though several of us made forays out into the leatherleaf on the bog in search of dragonflies and other specimens, our Insect Ecology class spent the majority of our time searching for terrestrial insects in the meadows, forests, and aspen stands surrounding the bog. Most students could be seen walking with nets in hand, searching for butterflies, moths, tiger beetles, grasshoppers (the adults were a rewarding but difficult-to-catch commodity), and dragonflies. Several flowering shrubs had attracted a myriad of bees, wasps, bee-mimicking flies, and leafhoppers. In one sweep of her net through a flowering bush, one student (Anna Lowry) captured several dozen of these along with an additional assortment of small insects. In the forests, other students eagerly rolled logs and picked through dead wood in search of beetles, ants, and coveted earwigs and roaches. Though the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly and earwig remained uncaught, most students captured a good number of insects to add to their burgeoning collections.


Examining dead wood in an Aspen stand, photo courtesy of Braden DeWeerd






Sources


“Bog.” National Geographic Society, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/bog.

Britannica, "bog". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/science/bog-wetland. 

“Michigan Natural Features Inventory.” Bog - Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Michigan State University, https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/communities/description/10666/bog.

Priest, Susan. Peatland Acidification and Understanding PH. University of Maine, 2012, https://umaine.edu/oronobogwalk/wp-content/uploads/sites/393/2015/03/Peatland-Acidification-pH.pdf.

SciShow. Chemistry & Corpses: The Science of Bog Bodies. 2014. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ySRAJY92wE


Image Credits

Sphagnum sp. water-retention: cells: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphagnum#/media/File:Sphagnum_cells.jpg

Other images: Braden DeWeerd

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