Species Champions: Rusty Bog-moss

Rusty Bog-moss is a type of Sphagnum which forms hummocks and is brown like a ginger biscuit. It is found in wet bogs or at high altitudes. It is an important peat-forming species in northern countries. Bogs are areas of land where a layer of peat has accumulated naturally and is kept wet by precipitation (rain, snow, fog, etc). Peat is formed under waterlogged conditions from carbon-rich, dead and decaying plant material, mainly from Sphagnum species. Sphagnum are ‘keystone species’ producing an environment which many other species need to survive. Only found occasionally in Scotland, particularly in the North West, it is very rare in England and Wales.