The coordinates of this earthcache point to the entrance path to a circular boardwalk which runs through Red Moss. Parking is available nearby. Information to help you answer the questions below can be found on the panels along the boardwalk.
Visitors are requested to stay on the boardwalk due to the wet and soft, peaty ground which can be damaged by trampling.
The Red Moss of Balerno Wildlife Reserve is an example of a raised bog, here managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Raised Bogs are areas of deep, wet, acidic peat, which receive their water supply from rainfall rather than surface ground water. The wet, acidic conditions are perfect for preserving plant material, creating peat which accumulates over thousands of years. The accumulation of peat eventually results in a dome of peat raised above the surrounding land, hence the name "raised bog". The name "Red Moss" is though to originate from those species of moss which are coloured red, or possibly the colour of flowering heather.
10,000 years ago, Scotland was covered with ice. Glaciers gouged the landscape to leave bare land studded with water-filled depressions, of which Red Moss was one. We can understand the history of Red Moss over the last 10,000 years by looking at the layers of sand, clay and peat which make up Red Moss today. Below here lie black clays and sands which piled up in the former lake. As the lake filled in a wood colonised the drying surface - its remains are fossilised below you.
Sphagnum moss thrived in the wet and nutrient poor conditions of the birch woodland, acidifying the soil. The trees later died out, leaving the open bog seen today. As a bog is waterlogged, dead vegetation does not decompose fully, causing peat to form. Peat retains water so, as layers of peat accumulate, the bog stays wet. Over thousands of years this dome of peat has risen to cover the former lake.
The world's beautiful wetlands provide sanctuary to some of our most threatened species, yet they are often perceived as mere wasteland. 50% of the world's wetlands have been destroyed. Raised bogs in Scotland have fared even worse as agriculture - followed by forestry, open-cast mining and peat-cutting for horticulture - have almost eliminated this precious resource. To save our bogs, conservationists are urging gardeners to use alternatives to peat, such as wood chippings, coconut fibre (coir) and composted organic wastes.
To log this earthcache, please email me answers to the following questions. Do not put the answers in your log or it will be deleted. Answers can be found by reading the information panels along the boardwalk through the bog. You do not need to leave the boardwalk to do any part of this cache.
1. How deep is the peat at Red Moss?
2. When did the birch woodland first colonise the bog, and when did it die off?
3. What is the dominant plant at Red Moss, and why?
4. What was driven through the bog in the nineteenth century?
5. The Scottish Wildlife Trust is working to conserve the raised bog habitat at Red Moss. Give two ways in which they are doing so.
6. Do you think that these measures will restore and preserve the bog? Justify your answer.
Many thanks to the Scottish Wildlife Trust for permission to place this earthcache.