Peatlands cover an estimated 3% of the global land mass and contain approximately a third of all the organic soil carbon on Earth (Gorham, 1991). It has been estimated that peatlands contain c.600 gigatonnes of carbon (Gt C), which is more than all the vegetation on Earth (c.560 Gt C) (Turetsky et ai, 2015). The greatest concentration of peatlands globally can be found in the temperate and boreal regions of North America and Eurasia (e.g. Charman et ai, 2013). However, peatlands are also found in tropical areas in the form of swamps and ombrotrophic domes (e.g. Page et ai, 2011). Although peat is composed primarily of organic matter and water, it should not be considered a single soil type owing to differences in organic and inorganic content, plant composition and chemistry.
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机译：泥炭地估计占全球土地质量的3％，约占地球上所有有机土壤碳的三分之一（Gorham，1991年）。据估计，泥炭地含有约600千兆吨碳（Gt C），比地球上所有植被（c.560 Gt C）还要多（Turetsky等，2015）。全球的泥炭地最集中在北美和欧亚大陆的温带和寒带地区（例如Charman等，2013）。但是，在热带地区也发现了泥炭地，形式是沼泽和非营养圆顶（e.g. Page et ai，2011）。尽管泥炭主要由有机物和水组成，但由于有机和无机物含量，植物组成和化学成分的差异，不应将其视为单一土壤类型。
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