Article
Details
Citation
Tipping R (2008) Blanket peat in the Scottish Highlands: timing, cause, spread and the myth of environmental determinism. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17 (9), pp. 2097-2113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9220-4
Abstract
This contribution describes the geomorphic, stratigraphic, palaeoclimatic, palaeoecological and 14C dating evidence for the timing within the present interglacial of blanket peat initiation and extension (¡®spread¡¯) from five localities throughout the upland and northern regions of Scotland. The results suggest that blanket peat was common or abundant over much of the highland landscape within a few thousand years of the beginning of the Holocene period. Blanket peat developed either as an inevitable but rapid end-stage to soil development in this generally cold and wet climate or was promoted by climatic change. There is no evidence from this data-set that blanket peat developed as a result of anthropogenic activities. It is suggested, indeed, that farming communities successfully resisted the natural spread of peat across their fields.
Keywords
blanket peat; Scotland; Holocene; Climate change; Human activity; Paleoecology Scotland; Neolithic period Scotland; Forests and forestry Scotland History; Geology Scotland; Scotland Antiquities; Afforestation Scotland
Journal
Biodiversity and Conservation: Volume 17, Issue 9
| Status | Published |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 31/08/2008 |
| Publication date online | 12/09/2007 |
| URL | |
| Publisher | Springer |
| ISSN | 0960-3115 |
| eISSN | 1572-9710 |