Peat bogs
A swamp in the mountain: the peat bog
The peat bog, present in the plain of Viote, is an unusual and interesting environment, especially for its plants. Few species have adapted themselves to this place where the excess of water, the slightly acid pH and the lack of nutrients create difficult living conditions. The peculiarity of this habitat is the multitude of peat mosses (Sphagnum sp.), a particular group of mosses that are able to store in their tissues vast quantities of water, that over time will become peat.
This environment hosts other types of species characteristic of humid areas, most of which are at risk of extinction: alpine bulrush (Trichophorum alpinum) with its unique coloured feather, bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), recogizable for its spine of white flowers that comes out of the water and true sedges (Carex sp.) with their typical pad shape. You can also find carnivorous plants that eat little insects due to lack of nutrients: Drosera rotundifolia and Pinguicola vulgaris. A real rarity of Viote peat bog is the star swertia (Swertia perennis), that can only be found in two localities within the Province of Trento.