Ecosystem services of peatlands: Implications for restoration

Abstract

The aim of this overview paper is to analyse the inclusion and use of the ecosystem services concept in scientific studies of degraded peatlands and peatland restoration. Publications indexed by the Institute of Science Information (ISI) Web of Science (WoS) from 1980 to October 2009 were analysed. Word combinations relevant to peatland ecosystem services in the title, keywords and abstract were used. We followed the division of ecosystem services into four categories: supporting, regulating, provisioning and cultural, as provided by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). The analysis indicated that the concept of ecosystem services is not referred to explicitly in ISI WoS studies on peatland restoration. The interpretation of the content identified using search phrases related to various beneficial functions of peatlands showed that they mainly include information on regulating and supporting ecosystem services critical to sustaining vital ecosystem functions that deliver benefits to people. There are only a few articles addressing provisioning and cultural ecosystem services. One of the key issues concerning the effect of peatland restoration in the provisioning of ecosystem services is the balance of greenhouse gases and their role in global climate regulation.

An assessment of the restoration efforts of degraded peatland in central Kalimantan, Indonesia

“…Tropical peatland provides significant socioeconomic benefits and is an environmental resource that benefits both humans and plant and animal species (Safford, 1998;Joosten & Clarke, 2002;Schumann & Joosten, 2008;Kimmel & Mander, 2010;). The advantages provided by peatland include provisioning/production services (e.g.…”

“…ecotourism, education, religious practices), and supporting services (e.g. biodiversity, nutrient cycling) (Joosten & Clarke, 2002;Kimmel & Mander, 2010). Despite these substantial values and ecosystem services, peatland in Indonesia is undergoing rapid degradation owing to conversion to other land uses such as large-scale agriculture and industrial plantations (Koh et al, 2011;Carlson et al, 2012;Miettinen et al, 2012;Miettinen et al, 2012a;Miettinen et al, 2013), artificial drainage canal development Hooijer et al, 2012;), and recurrent fires (Page et al, 2002;Aldhous, 2004;Hoscilo et al, 2011).…”

Novel ecosystems and the emergence of cultural ecosystem services

“…Some ascribe a diverse and high number of services to intact and functioning peatlands (Kimmel and Mander, 2010), made more poignant when discussing their significant carbon sequestration potential (Waddington and Warner, 2001). …”

“…The information in this timeline was derived from the literature and experience of long-term research into peatland management and attempts to re-use damaged peatlands in Ireland (Bullock and Collier, 2011;Clarke and Reiley, 2010; for complete historical, botanical and management details, see : Feehan et al, 2008;Joosten et al, 2012;Kimmel and Mander, 2010;Renou et al, 2006). Table 1.…”

Impacts of artificial drainage on amphibian breeding sites in hemiboreal forests

“…Because vast areas of wet forest have been already drained artificially in boreal and temperate zones, we highlight the importance of those wet-forest areas, which are still intact in terms of natural hydrology in these regions. Large-scale draining should be avoided in such areas (see also Sjöberg and Ericson, 1997) because of many ecosystem services they provide (Kimmel and Mander, 2010), including various biodiversity considerations (Wiktander et al, 1992;Nilsson, 1997). In addition to amphibians, negative effects of intensive forest drainage (especially via habitat changes) have been demonstrated for many other taxa Vuori et al, 1998;Ludwig et al, 2008;Louhi et al, 2010).…”