DigiBog

DigiBog is an ecosystem model that simulates peatland development over decades to millennia. In the model, new plant litter is added to a peatland, both above and below ground (the latter comprising roots and rhizomes). Peat decay is also simulated. The balance between additions of litter and losses of peat via decay are mediated by the position of the water table, which is also simulated in DigiBog in response to rainfall, evapotranspiration, and seepage through the peat. On MOTHERSHIP, DigiBog is being applied to a series of exemplar (or 'golden') sites - from blanket bogs to lowland agricultural peatlands. For these sites the model is being used to simulate their past development and future changes under a range of climate and land management scenarios. The hydrological part of DigiBog is available as a standalone model (DigiBog_Hydro) and is being used to help identify the most appropriate lateral water loss functions to use in JULES, so that the latter's simulation of water tables at landscape scales is appropriate.