Fenland SOIL is a not for profit organisation that aims to inform and develop ‘whole farm’ land use policies, to achieve climate change mitigation and biodiversity enhancement in the Fens.

Fens play an important role in the global nitrogen cycle due to the anaerobic conditions found in their soils, which facilitate the oxidation or reduction of one form of nitrogen to another. [11] Most nitrogen arrives in wetlands as nitrate from runoff , in organic matter from other areas, or by nitrogen fixation in the wetland. [ 11 ]

Fens are peat-forming wetlands that rely on groundwater input and require thousands of years to develop and cannot easily be restored once destroyed. Fens are also hotspots of biodiversity. They often are home to rare plants, insects, and small mammals.

Fen is the local term for an individual area of marshland or former marshland. It also designates the type of marsh typical of the area, which has neutral or alkaline water and relatively large quantities of dissolved minerals, but few other plant nutrients.

The Landscape Mapping Workstream, led by Ian Holman (Cranfield University) is designed to understand the Fens soils to allow better estimates of emissions to be made. The soils of the Fens are highly variable from mineral soils (on higher ground, roddams, in the Silt Fens etc), to organo-mineral soils (that were formerly peat soils) and ...

All soils release greenhouse gases: soil microbes break down the organic matter and belch out CO 2 and methane. But in carbon-rich soils, like the Fenland peat, it’s as if the microbes are on steroids.

Apr 17, 2015 · clay soil types. Fens in southern Wisconsin seem to come in two types: high organic and high carbonate. Both types are kept wet by continuous (but slow) outflow or seepage of groundwater that is high in dissolved carbonates and (usually) low in nutrients. The organic soils (>60% OM) are about four times as common

Fens are unique wetland ecosystems that are characterized by their waterlogged and nutrient-rich conditions. The formation of fens is a complex process that involves the accumulation of peat, which is a type of organic soil, over thousands of years.

Mar 1, 2025 · Having been drained in the 17th century, the lowland peat soils found in the Fens have been shrinking ever since – with carbon being released into the atmosphere and water management becoming...

Fens, a type of wetland ecosystem, depend on groundwater sources to wet soil at or just below the soil surface. Fens typically feature plant communities dominated by mosses and sedge like plant species growing over peat. Fens comprise a very …