Sphagnum baby. Several of the world's largest wetlands are sphagnum-dominated bogs, including the West Siberian Lowland, the Hudson Bay Lowland and the Mackenzie River Valley. These areas provide habitat for common and rare species. They also store large amounts of carbon, which helps reduce global warming. The U.S. gets up to 80% of sphagnum peat moss it uses from Canada. In Canada, the peat bog mass harvested each year is an estimated 1/60th of the mass that accumulates. About .02% of the 270 million acres (422,000 square miles) of Canadian peat bog are used for peat moss mining. Some efforts are
Blawhorn Moss National Nature Reserve area by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and is also designated as both a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The reserve is owned and managed by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Blawhorn Moss provides an important habitat for wildlife and supports many of the plant species representative of bog habitat. A number of sphagnum mosses grow here, as well as heather, crowberry, hare’s-tail cotton grass and common cotton grass. A variety of bird species breed on the moss, including red grouse, snipe, curlew and redshank. Stonechat, skylark and meadow pipit are also regularly