"The themes of this book were addressed at a major international conference in 2013, and the expanded papers are presented here as chapters with an introduction by Ian D. Rotherham. The papers are grouped around several themes: Military Landscapes; Battles and Battlefields; The Impacts of Conflict and War; War & Peat in the Peak District; and Non-military Campaigns. As we approach the centenary of the Great War (WW1), matters of landscape, terrain, resources and strategies become increasingly topical and relevant. The relationships of people and landscapes, of economies and conflicts, and ecology and history, are complex and multi-faceted. For peatlands, including bogs, fens, moors, and heaths, the interactions of people and nature in relation to history and conflicts, are both significant and surprising."--

"The themes of this book were addressed at a major international conference in 2013, and the expanded papers are presented here as chapters with an introduction by Ian D. Rotherham. The papers are grouped around several themes: Military Landscapes; Battles and Battlefields; The Impacts of Conflict and War; War & Peat in the Peak District; and Non-military Campaigns. As we approach the centenary of the Great War (WW1), matters of landscape, terrain, resources and strategies become increasingly topical and relevant. The relationships of people and landscapes, of economies and conflicts, and ecology and history, are complex and multi-faceted. For peatlands, including bogs, fens, moors, and heaths, the interactions of people and nature in relation to history and conflicts, are both significant and surprising."--

Exploring and appreciating the fascinating ecosystems of bogs and fens Peatlands--and specifically "bogs"--have long been a source of fascination for humans, and these amazing places are truly living relics of the Ice Age. More recently, bogs have come to be regarded as complex and fascinating wetland ecosystems. Peatlands of Ohio and the Southern Great Lakes Region focuses on the sphagnum peat bogs and rich fens of the lower Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, southern Michigan, and the glaciated northern corners of Pennsylvania. The peatlands of today are products of the Wisconsinan Glaciation, when peatland plants originating in northern latitudes migrated southward in a wide band preceding the glacial wall of ice. After thousands of years, the glacier's retreat severely diminished the sites with the very special environmental conditions needed to sustain these ecosystems. However, in a few sites, kettlehole lakes and cold alkaline hillside seeps and springs enabled remnants of peatland vegetation to survive to this day. Guy L. Denny, with accompanying photographs by Gary Meszaros, closely examines this habitat and its special environmental constraints, the geological and climatological origins, and the flora and fauna unique to the bogs and rich fens of this region. As readers will discover as they learn about places like Cranberry Bog in Michigan or Triangle Lake in Ohio, kettlehole sphagnum peat bogs and rich fens are not only essential places to protect, but they are amazing sites to explore, discover new plants, and observe the beauty and splendor of the natural world.

Wales is essentially an upland country where mountains and moorlands are the dominant components of the rural scene. The form and character of these landscapes are the consequence of a long history of change. Their distinctiveness is the result of complex interaction between the natural environment and human intervention. Based on the results of an archaeological field survey, this book attempts to unravel the many strands in the evolution of one particular upland area of South Wales, Mynydd Du and Fforest Fawr, part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The history of human activity in this area can be traced back to the earliest stages of climatic warming after the end of the last Ice Age when Mesolithic hunters followed migrating herds onto the less densely wooded high ground. Seasonal visiting was continued by early farmers until, from the beginning of the Bronze Age, more intensive patterns of land use emerged. After the end of the Roman military presence evidence for mainly seasonal occupation once again becomes widespread, during the Medieval and Post-Medieval periods. This was followed by the intensive exploitation of the area's mineral wealth during the Industrial Revolution and after, giving rise to some of the most dramatic features of the present-day landscape.

Peat: Industrial Chemistry and Technology explores the chemistry and chemical technology of peat as a chemical feedstock. The processes that generate peat chemicals, such as solvent extraction and acid hydrolysis, are discussed. Some of the more important implications of peat use for humans and nature are also pointed out. This book describes alternative technologies for each of the major organic components of peat, including solvent extraction of peat bitumens; decolorization and oxidation of peat waxes; acid hydrolysis of unfractionated peat; and coke production. Other chapters discuss chemical characterization and analysis of peat; composition and hydrolysis of peat carbohydrates; composition of peat hydrolysates intended for yeast production; production of organic chemicals by peat hydrolysis; and scale of peat chemical operations. The final chapter examines the ecological and other environmental factors affecting the chemical technology of peat. This monograph will be a useful source of information for chemists, engineers, and managers interested in the industrial potential of peat as a chemical feedstock.