Peatland restoration is experiencing a global upsurge as a tool to protect and provide various ecosystem services. As the range of peatland types being restored diversifies, do previous findings present overly optimistic restoration expectations? In an eroding and restored upland peatland we assessed short-term (0–4 year) effects of restoration on ecohydrological functions. Restoration significantly reduced discharge from the site, transforming peat pans into pools. These retained surface water over half the time and were deeper during wet periods than before. In the surrounding haggs water tables stabilised, as drawdown during dry conditions reduced, increasing the saturated peat thickness. Despite these changes, there were no effects on photosynthesis, ecosystem respiration or dissolved organic carbon loads leaving the site. Soil respiration did not decrease as water tables rose, but methane emissions were higher from rewet pools. Restoration has had a dramatic effect on hydrology, however, consequent changes in other ecosystem functions were not measured in the 4 years after restoration. Whilst restoration is crucial in halting the expansion of degraded peatland areas, it is vital that practitioners and policymakers advocating for restoration are realistic about the expected outcomes and timescales over which these outcomes may manifest.
Related Resources
A Global Systematic Review of the Cultural Ecosystem Services Provided by Wetlands
Resource Date:
2024
Organization
Recent Climate Change has Driven Divergent Hydrological Shifts in High-latitude Peatlands
Resource Date:
August
2022
Organization
A Strong Mitigation Scenario Maintains Climate Neutrality of Northern Peatlands
Resource Date:
January
2022
Organization
Decreased Carbon Accumulation Feedback Driven by Climate‐Induced Drying of Two Southern Boreal Bogs over Recent Centuries
Resource Date:
January
2020
Large Stocks of Peatland Carbon and Nitrogen are Vulnerable to Permafrost Thaw
Resource Date:
August
2020
Organization
Potential for Using Remote Sensing to Estimate Carbon Fluxes Across Northern Peatlands – A Review
Resource Date:
February
2015
Was this helpful?
|