ABSTRACT
Peat bogs are unique plant communities. Not only do they exhibit a special relationship with climate and its variations, but, alone amongst terrestrial ecosystems, they also form a record of that relationship in the peat itself. Recurrence surfaces represent big changes in the surface wetness of a peat bog. In the stratigraphy they are seen as levels at which dark humified peat is succeeded by lighter unhumified peat, often with pool muds containing semi-aquatic species immediately on top of the dark peat. Careful macrofossil analysis of the top of the humified peat will reveal the past state of the surface, and any appreciable period of non-accumulation should show up as totally disintegrated plant materials of a purplish-black colour, and there are often other indicators such as an old cracked, oxidised peat surface. The proxy record for climate can be extended back for more or less the whole postglacial period.
