Abstract
AMONG the most widely distributed mire types in North America are those maintained by the ground-water table, situated in topographic positions where water accumulates1. One type is the kettle-hole mire, which develops a buoyant mat over water bodies. Fossil pollen and peat macrofossil evidence indicate that kettle-hole mires in southwestern Ontario in Canada are approximately 150 years old. We hypothesize that deforestation for agriculture by the first European settlers reduced the regulating rates of seasonal runoff which caused the kettle-holes to flood in the spring. Pioneering bog species were placed at a competitive advantage which led to the establishment of floating carpets of vegetation over open water bodies.
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Warner, B., Kubiw, H. & Hanf, K. An anthropogenic cause for quaking mire formation in southwestern Ontario. Nature 340, 380–384 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/340380a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/340380a0
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