Science and Research Projects in the Sax-Zim Bog : Friends of Sax-Zim Bog

Why Care about Bogs and Peatlands?

Bogs cover millions of acres across northern Minnesota, Canada and Alaska in North America and they are under increasing pressure due to logging, especially for pulp and paper. These bogs are important carbon sinks, trapping and holding onto this green house gas forever. Protecting these peatlands and their potential as important pieces to combat climate change, but that habitat is important for other creatures as well, many of which rely on this habitat and are not found anywhere else.

Great Gray Owls are an important ambassador species for the bogs of northern Minnesota. Birders, photographers, and videographers travel from all corners of the globe to our boreal forests to find, watch and photograph this species. But most residents of our state are unaware of the quantity of life in the peatlands and the international attention its resident critters draw.

Black Spruce bogs—and peatlands in general— are unknown, ignored, or scary places for most folks. And because of this, most think of bogs as dark, dank, mosquito-ridden swamps. But the reality is that they are places of light, delicate wildflowers, rare orchids, fascinating mammals and of course, home to millions of breeding birds—owls, warblers, flycatchers (and, yes, mosquitos). But even the hated mosquito has its place—it is the foundation of the northern forest food pyramid.

To that end, a number of projects have been undertaken to help us better understand the biodiversity and species that call the greater Sax-Zim Bog ecosystem home. Below are a few project reports and images from some of the research projects done by done with support from Friends of Sax-Zim Bog. If you are hoping to find resources on other research done in the region, head over to our Research Papers and Publications page!