Chemical Studies of Some Irish Bogs: A Newly Discovered Manuscript by Hugo Sjörs and Eville Gorham

This unpublished manuscript from 1966 by Hugo Sjörs and Eville Gorham was found in the archives at Uppsala University. It is published here to make their data available as historical reference material. Floristic data on higher plants, bryophytes, lichens and microalgae were obtained from ombrotrophic bogs in Ireland with and without Schoenus nigricans . Analyses were made for Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cl, SO 4 , dissolved organic carbon, optical density and pH in the free superficial waters; for Na, K, Ca, Mg and pH in waters expressed from the bog peats; and for ash, P, pH, and the exchangeable cations Na, K, Ca, Mg and H in the peats themselves. The richness of the ombrotrophic flora in western Ireland is confirmed by this study, which demonstrates that bogs there contain many species of microalgae as well as higher plants which are restricted to minerotrophic fens in Sweden. Marine influence upon ion supply is very strong, with the Irish bog waters uncommonly high in Na, Mg and Cl. Exchangeable Na and Mg are also unusually abundant in the peats. Associated with marine influence are higher pH values than are normal in more continental sites, and a higher degree of adsorptive neutralisation of the peats. Total P is low by comparison with ombrotrophic peats in Sweden. Expressed waters are much higher than free superficial waters in K, and to a lesser extent in Ca, but they are much lower than free waters in H ions.