Peatlands act as CO 2 sinks that store more soil carbon per unit area than any other ecosystem. Increased aeration and subsequent oxidation following drainage causes peatlands to lose carbon and leads to a relative increase in the concentration of inorganic compounds. To infer carbon losses as a result of drainage, we studied four sites in Central Europe with different drainage states and land-use histories. We used differences in ash content of both catotelm peat and near-surface layers as well as the results of soil carbon inventories. The method yielded reasonable results, at least for two drained sites, where the mean loss rates varied between 0.14 and 0.49 kgC m −2 a −1 .Comparison with a pristine bog showed that a relative increase of ash content is not unique to drained sites and that previous land management also affected natural peatlands with concomitant losses similar in magnitude to their drained counterparts. Rehabilitation of a previously drained site dissipated the original ash peak profile. In conclusion, the method is suitable for predicting carbon losses from ombrotrophic bogs under certain conditions but in countries with a long-lasting tradition of anthropogenic interference it is impossible to attribute drainage as the only factor governing relative increases in ash content in ombrotrophic peatlands.
Governance of protected areas is a rapidly growing research field as new actors rather than governments play crucial roles in decision-making processes, and new forms and mechanisms of decision-making complement existing regulations. However, little is known about the key characteristics of new forms of protected area governance and how they differ from older governance concepts. In this paper we use the example of newly established regional nature parks in Switzerland to address similarities and differences between new and older concepts of governance, and to address similarities and differences between different regional practices of new protected area governance across Switzerland. Drawing on different empirical sources and methods, our findings reveal diverse governance practices of regional nature parks in Switzerland. We identified three forms of park organization: (i) organized as association; (ii) parks affiliated to single municipalities; and (iii) parks associated with a regional development bodies. Different governance practices also result from different forms of regional embeddedness between top-down and bottom-up approaches and the related tensions.
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