SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 27


separate from the series eutrophy, mesotrophy and oligotrophy. The lat-
ter series describes nutrient resources of peatlands using plant composi-
tion with eutrophy being richer in nutrients and oligotrophy being poorer.
The eutrophy-oligotrophy series is difficult to apply since it may be
expanded to include additional extreme and transitional groups. The
boundaries between these various groups are not clear (Heikurainen,
1976) and they will not be considered further in this document.
 Bogs are said to be ombrotropic, which implies that the bog is isolated
from the regional groundwater system and receives its moisture mainly
from precipitation. Minerotrophic peatlands, or fens, are defined as being
connected with the regional groundwater system and are nourished both
by precipitation and groundwater flow (Brooks and Predmore, 1978).
 The U.S. Department of Energy in its Peat Prospectus avoids the usage
of fen and characterizes peat as forming in swamps, bogs, and saltwater
and freshwater marshes (U.S. Department of Energy, 1979). The extent
of this confusion becomes clear on examination of the American Geologi-
cal Institute's definition of swamp (Gary, et al., eds., 1974) which is
characterized as, "A water saturated area . essentially without
peatlike accumulation". It should be noted that most workers in the field
do not concur with the portion of the American Geological Institute's
definition that addresses the accumulation of peat in swamps (A. Cohen,
personal communication, 1984). Moore and Bellamy (1974, p. 84) use
the term "mire" to cover all wetland ecosystems in which peat accumu-
lates in the same area where its parent plant material lived and grew.
Thus, the meaning of specific names assigned to the peat-forming envi-
ronment must be derived from an author's context.
 In the southeastern United States, the most commonly used terms for
peat-forming environments are swamps and marshes. Swamps refer to
forested wetlands and marshes refer to aquatic, herbaceous wetlands
(A. Cohen, personal communication, 1984).

 Peat: Agricultural or Mineral Resource?

 In Florida, peat may eventually be viewed as a mineral resource or an
agricultural resource. The United States Bureau of Mines has long con-
sidered peat a mineral resource for the reporting of commodity statistics.
In deference to the formal definition of the term "mineral", the greatest
majority of earth science professionals would not classify peat as a min-
eral. Peat might be likened more properly to a rock in that it contains a
number of minerals (quartz, pyrite, and clay minerals among others) as
well as macerals which are the organic equivalents of minerals.
 If, however, the formal and most restricted definition of mineral is
compared with a definition of mineral that reflects current usage, it is
noted that "minerals" adhere to the specifications of the formal defini-
tion in varying degrees. The intent of this discussion is not to establish
that peat is a mineral, but rather to illustrate the extent to which the
formal definition has been expanded in common usage.