Environmental Research Institute, North Highland College, University of the Highlands and Islands, Castle Street, Thurso KW14 7JD, UK.
RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Etive House, Beechwood Park, Inverness IV2 3BW, UK..
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Nov 10;742:140594. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140594. Epub 2020 Jun 30.
Peatland restoration is undertaken to bring back key peatland ecosystem services, including carbon storage. In the case of drained, afforested blanket peatlands, restoration through drain blocking and tree removal may impact upon aquatic carbon concentrations and export, which needs to be accounted for when considering the carbon benefits of restoration. This study investigated concentrations and export of aquatic carbon from a drained, afforested blanket bog catchment, where 12% of the catchment underwent drain blocking and conifer removal (termed 'forest-to-bog' restoration), and from two control catchments: one in open bog and one that remained afforested. Using a before-after-control-impact (BACI) design, we found no significant increases in concentrations or export of aquatic carbon (DOC, POC or DIC) in the first year following forest-to-bog restoration (i.e. across the whole post-restoration period). However, increased DOC concentrations were observed in the first summer (2015) post-restoration, and seasonally increased DOC export was noted during storm events in the autumn of the same year. The lack of significant effects of forest-to-bog restoration on aquatic carbon export may be a consequence of the small proportion of the catchment (12%) undergoing management. In terms of management, the removal of more of the forestry residues (i.e., brash) may help to mitigate effects on aquatic carbon, by removing a potential DOC and POC source. Restoring small areas at a time (≤12%) should result in minimal aquatic carbon export issues, in contexts similar to the current study.
泥炭地修复旨在恢复关键的泥炭地生态系统服务，包括碳储存。在排水、造林的毯子泥炭地的情况下，通过堵塞排水和移除树木进行的修复可能会影响水生碳浓度和输出，这在考虑修复的碳效益时需要加以考虑。本研究调查了排水、造林的毯子沼泽流域中水生碳的浓度和输出，其中 12%的流域进行了排水堵塞和针叶树移除（称为“森林到沼泽”修复），以及来自两个对照流域：一个是开阔沼泽，另一个仍然造林。使用前后对照影响（BACI）设计，我们发现在“森林到沼泽”修复后的第一年（即整个修复后期间），水生碳（DOC、POC 或 DIC）的浓度或输出没有显著增加。然而，在修复后的第一个夏季（2015 年）观察到 DOC 浓度增加，同年秋季的风暴事件中观察到季节性增加的 DOC 输出。“森林到沼泽”修复对水生碳输出没有显著影响的可能原因是管理的流域比例较小（12%）。在管理方面，去除更多的林业残留物（即树枝）可能有助于减轻对水生碳的影响，因为它去除了潜在的 DOC 和 POC 来源。在类似于当前研究的情况下，一次恢复较小的区域（≤12%）应不会导致水生碳输出问题。
