Abstract
In the last 25 years, several degraded peatlands in eastern Canada have been restored toward their natural structure. Pools are common in natural peatlands and are important habitats for unique flora and fauna. Because of their ecolog-ical value, pools have been created in some restored peatland sites. Neverthe-less, the biogeochemistry of created pools in a restoration context has seldom been studied. The objective of our study is to characterize the biogeochemistryof created pools from restored peatlands and compare them with natural poolsalong a chronosequence since their creation. We measured different biogeochemi-cal variables (pH, concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved organic matter (DOM), base cations—calcium(Ca), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K)—and dissolved gases—methane (CH4 ), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and nitrous oxide (N2 O)-) in 61 pools distributed over seven peatlands in eastern Canada. The sites represent a rangeof conditions, from natural to restored peatlands with pools ranging from 3 to22 years old. Created and natural pools had distinctive biogeochemistry, with created pools being generally less acidic (pH >5) and 2.5 times more concen-trated in nutrients (N and P) than in natural pools. DOC, N, P, dissolved gases,and base cations concentrations were lower in natural pools than in createdpools, and varied between created sites. The oldest created pools (age>17 years) tend to approach the biogeochemical characteristics of natural pools, indicating that created pools may, over time, provide habitats with simi-lar conditions to natural pools. A return of created pools to a natural pool-like biogeochemistry could thus inform on the success of peatland restoration.