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Bogs are a specialized wetland type found on saturated, acid peat soils that are low in nutrients. They support a unique assemblage of trees, low shrubs and herbs growing on mats of sphagnum moss. In Wisconsin, most bogs are found north of the vegetation tension zone.
 Open bogs are composed of a carpet of living sphagnum moss growing over a layer of acid peat. Herbs and/or the low shrubs of the heath family (Ericaceae) colonize the sphagnum moss mat. Scattered, usually immature or stunted (with trunks of less than 6 inches in diameter at 1 meter height) trees of black spruce and/or tamarack may be present. Lack of forest is probably due to conditions too wet for the tree species; sphagnum moss mat too thin to support trees; recurrent fires; summer frosts; and/or a lack of a seed source for the tree species.
The Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory divides this community type into three separate community types: open bog, central poor fen, and poor fen. Click here to read the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ community descriptions for these community types.
The wetland plant community description in italics above is excerpted from Eggers, S.D. and D.M. Reed. 1997. Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin. (2nd Edition). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul, MN.
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