Blanket peat in the Scottish Highlands: timing, cause, spread and the myth of environmental determinism

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