Upland Environments Research Unit, Geography, University of Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Upland Environments Research Unit, Geography, University of Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 May 15;665:785-796. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.095. Epub 2019 Feb 12.
Peatlands provide a range of ecosystem services but are sensitive to changes in climate and land-use, and many peatlands globally are degraded. We analyse a large-scale, unique and diverse dataset, collected over 15 years, as part of major landscape scale blanket peat restoration projects in the south Pennines, UK. Trajectories of ecosystem change after restoration were assessed by measuring key ecosystem responses including: vegetation cover and indicator species; water table, runoff, and water quality. The reactions of these metrics vary in their behaviour, both in the timing of first response and the rate of change towards a new stable state. Re-establishment of vegetation is a key driver in rapidly reducing particulate carbon loss and attenuating stormflow, while over time biodiversity is improved by the return of native species, and water tables gradually rise. The phasing of these ecosystem service responses indicates that there are different characteristic timescales for the improvement of peatland functions, driven by both surface and subsurface processes. The rapid establishment of vegetation cover over two years, and its importance in improving a broad range of functions, signify it as a key milestone for reporting project success within typical funding timeframes. This study supports the adoption of Lime-Fertiliser-Seed-Mulch restoration on eroding blanket peatlands globally. The trajectories developed are important to help guide practitioners of ecological restoration. Better understanding of the dynamics underpinning the slower response times of subsurface hydrological and biogeochemical function is identified as a key knowledge gap. An understanding of the limits of ecosystems recovery is important when target setting for restoration projects, especially where attaining pristine conditions is unachievable.
泥炭地提供了一系列生态系统服务，但对气候和土地利用的变化很敏感，而且全球许多泥炭地都在退化。我们分析了一个大规模、独特和多样化的数据集，这些数据是作为英国南奔宁山脉大规模全面泥炭恢复项目的一部分，在 15 年多的时间里收集的。通过测量关键生态系统响应，包括植被覆盖和指示物种、水位、径流量和水质，评估了恢复后的生态系统变化轨迹。这些指标的反应在其行为上有所不同，包括首次反应的时间和向新稳定状态变化的速度。植被的重建是迅速减少颗粒态碳损失和减弱暴雨径流的关键驱动因素，随着时间的推移，生物多样性通过本地物种的回归得到改善，而水位逐渐上升。这些生态系统服务响应的阶段性表明，由于地表和地下过程的驱动，改善泥炭地功能的特征时间尺度不同。植被覆盖在两年内迅速建立，它对改善广泛的功能非常重要，这标志着它是在典型的资金期限内报告项目成功的关键里程碑。本研究支持在全球侵蚀性泥炭地上采用石灰-肥料-种子-覆盖物恢复方法。开发的轨迹对于指导生态恢复实践者非常重要。更好地了解地下水文和生物地球化学功能较慢响应时间的基础动态被确定为一个关键的知识空白。在为恢复项目设定目标时，特别是在无法达到原始条件的情况下，了解生态系统恢复的极限非常重要。
