We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
The effect of top soil removal and \textit{Sphagnum} spp. spreading on the net greenhouse gas balance of a formerly drained, rewetted bog grassland.
- Authors
Huth, Vytas; Günther, Anke; Bartel, Anna; Gutekunst, Cordula; Jacobs, Oona; Koebsch, Franziska; Tonn, Claudia; Jurasinski, Gerald
- Abstract
In many European countries, rewetting degraded peatlands has become an important measureto restore ecosystem functioning, providing habitats for rare flora and fauna, reducingnon-point pollution, and to mitigate high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, whendegraded peatlands that have been under intensive grassland use are rewetted, high methane(CH4) emissions are frequently observed, counteracting carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrousoxide (N2O) emissions. In incubation experiments, the removal of the upper degraded peatlayer has been suggested as an effective measure to reduce the potential for high CH4emissions under inundated conditions. Also, the introduction of Sphagnum spp. propaguleshas been suggested to kick-start C sequestration and possibly even act as a bio-filter for CH4due to symbiotic CH4-oxidizing archaea. Therefore, we installed a field trial withseven plots (ca. 8 x 24 m) representing the current state of a drained peat bogunder intensive grassland use (Control) and six different restoration approaches. Thesix approaches include rewetting at the original surface with and without regularbiomass harvesting (OS and OS+mowing), and topsoil removal (TSR) of two depths(∼30 and 60 cm) with and without spreading Sphagnum spp. propagules (TSR30,TSR30+Sphagnum, TSR60, TSR60+Sphagnum). The plots represent small-scale ecosystemswith different initial preconditions for succession after restoration. During the trial, wemeasure CO2, CH4, and N2O fluxes bi-weekly for period of three years, using theclosed-chamber method on three randomly chosen replicate collars of each plot (7 x 3 =21). Here, we present CO2, CH4, and N2O data from the first one-and-a-half years of the trial(Jun 2017 – Dec 2018). Preliminary results show that, both uptake and release of CO2follows a gradient towards lower fluxes from the Control to the TSR60 plots. Also, after oneyear, CH4 emissions of the Control and the OS plots were in the same order of magnitude asCH4 emissions from other rewetted sites without TSR found in the literature. In contrast, theTSR plots showed only small CH4 emissions, reduced by two to four orders ofmagnitude compared to the OS plots. In addition, the spreading of fresh Sphagnum spp.propagules had only little effect on CH4 emissions although coverage increased to almost100% after one year. Significant N2O fluxes were only observed occasionally in theControl and the OS plots. When 2018 data are fully collected, we will determinepreliminary net GHG and C balances of the plots including C export from TSR andbiomass harvest as well as C import by Sphagnum spreading. With this, we aim todiscuss the initial climate effect of six different approaches of peat bog restoration.
- Subjects
PEAT mosses; GREENHOUSE gases; GRASSLANDS; BOGS; PEAT bogs; EMISSION control
- Publication
Geophysical Research Abstracts, 2019, Vol 21, p1
- ISSN
1029-7006
- Publication type
Article