With the first days of fall comes a chance for reminiscing the summer and enjoying the present times of sweater weather and autumn activities. It’s a time for being with those you care about and watching the leaves change color to the iconic reds, oranges, yellows, and deep purples. Some of my favorite parts of fall include apple picking, finding a good pumpkin for the front stairs, eating cider donuts, and adventures to the bog. Though I suppose I could go to a bog at any time of the year, but, I associate it mostly with fall because of my first trip.
Back in freshman year of college, I took introductory biology which focused on evolution, ecology, and biodiversity. We had a lab where we went to the spruce hole bog in Durham, NH, and it was one of the greatest days of my life. The sphagnum moss was like a mini trampoline under our feet and there were weird and brilliant plants scattered throughout the bog. It was an absolutely beautiful day and fun to bounce from spot to spot and explore the ecosystem we were in. Bogs have carnivorous plants because the water is too acidic to support the nutrients the plants need, so they eat insects instead. We saw pitcher plants, venus fly traps, and bladderworts. Bladderwort’s unsuspecting yellow flowers pop through the surface, but the stems underwater are composed of bladders which are basically sacs of air. We also saw cranberries which our professor encouraged us to try. I popped one in my mouth and the little red berry was a lot less juicy and sweet than I thought it would be. I couldn’t help scrunching up my face a bit from the surprising tartness that coated my tongue. Cranberries are grown in bogs mostly throughout New England, with a large concentration coming from Massachusetts. They are harvested in the fall, which makes me think more about bogs during this season.
Bogs are highly important ecosystems to the function of our planet and take thousands of years to develop. They serve as carbon sinks in the carbon cycle of earth. A carbon sink is an environment that can store away large amounts of carbon dioxide for long periods of time. The CO2 that remains in bogs are stored in peat moss, or the mini trampoline part of the bog. The process itself is called carbon sequestration which is equivalent to a temporary storage facility but for CO2. For example, if you had too much stuff in your attic and needed to get rid of it for the time being to clear more space in your basement, you would move your things to the storage facility. Over time, you can then move your items from storage to your basement. Peat bogs alone can store up to 2 trillion tons of CO2 which is one massive storehouse. Moreover, bogs are great habitats for amphibians such as newts, salamanders, and frogs. In my opinion, bogs are the best form of wetlands. Being a frog in a bog with some cranberries in the fall sounds like the most ideal place to be.
This year, I invite you to find a local bog and go explore. A few that I’ve encountered have boardwalks so that you don’t have to get your feet wet. Thanks to my biology lab’s excursion I now have a slightly different reason to look forward to fall than other folks do. I’ll always think of the cranberries, the bounciness of the moss, and the wonderful time I had with my friends and classmates. Take time to check out unsuspecting and less popular places, what you might experience could give you sweet, or tart, memories to associate with different times of the year.
Dena is someone who likes to be “bogged down”… in an amphibian sort of way. She uses her knowledge and expertise on ecosytems to help the public, and our staff, understand and appreciate the world around us. You can learn more about Dena and here!