Effects of Moor-Draining on the Hydrology and Vegetation of Northern Pennine Blanket Bog

Stewart, Alan J. A.; Lance, Art N.

doi:10.2307/2404228

Cited by 61 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…This is consistent with observations of the impacts of peatland drainage on peak flows reported in the literature (Ahti, 1980;Conway and Millar, 1960;Holden et al, 2006;Robinson, 1986;Stewart and Lance, 1991). The low hydraulic conductivities of peatlands mean that drawdown caused by drainage is small (Robinson, 1986;Stewart and Lance, 1983), and takes a long period to develop; therefore, drainage of peatlands is only observed to be efficient for attenuating very small peak flows that occur after periods without rain.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Process (1) tends to reduce the flashiness of system response while process (2) increases it; which process is dominant is likely to be dependent on a number of site specific characteristics. In the case of drained blanket peatlands, drainage generally causes only localised drawdown of the water table (Robinson, 1986;Stewart and Lance, 1983), and in most reported cases, the runoff response is found to have reduced times to peak and increased peak flows (Ahti, 1980;Conway and Millar, 1960;Holden et al, 2006;Robinson, 1986;Stewart and Lance, 1991); the influence of the faster conveyance generally outweighs any benefits of increased storage in drained peatlands in terms of controlling peak flows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of peatland drainage management on peak flows

Ballard

McIntyre

Wheater

2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Open ditch drainage has historically been a common land management practice in upland blanket peats, particularly in the UK. However, peatland drainage is now generally considered to have adverse effects on the upland environment, including increased peak flows. As a result, drain blocking has become a common management strategy in the UK over recent years, although there is only anecdotal evidence to suggest that this might decrease peak flows. The change in the hydrological regime associated with the drainage of blanket peat and the subsequent blocking of drains is poorly understood, therefore a new physics-based model has been developed that allows the exploration of the associated hydrological processes. A series of simulations is used to explore the response of intact, drained and blocked drain sites at field scales. While drainage is generally found to increase peak flows, the effect of drain blocking appears to be dependent on local conditions, sometimes decreasing and sometimes increasing peak flows. Based on insights from these simulations we identify steep smooth drains as those that would experience the greatest reduction in field-scale peak flows if blocked and recommend that future targeted field studies should be focused on examining surface runoff characteristics.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of peatland drainage management on peak flows

Ballard

McIntyre

Wheater

2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Conway and Millar (1960) had never established whether their drains significantly affected water table and thus a 14 m spacing was established without recourse to soil properties. Stewart and Lance (1991) later showed that water table was only affected within 0.5 m of the Moor House ditches. It is clear that both ditch network design and soil properties are important in determining the effects of artificial drainage on water storage and runoff generation from a peatland.…”

Section: Impact Of Peat Drainage On Catchment Hydrologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial drainage of peatlands: hydrological and hydrochemical process and wetland restoration

Holden

Chapman

Labadz

2004

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

448

376

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Peatlands have been subject to artificial drainage for centuries. This drainage has been in response to agricultural demand, forestry, horticultural and energy properties of peat and alleviation of flood risk. However, the are several environmental problems associated with drainage of peatlands. This paper describes the nature of these problems and examines the evidence for changes in hydrological and hydrochemical processes associated with these changes. Traditional black-box water balance approaches demonstrate little about wetland dynamics and therefore the science of catchment response to peat drainage is poorly understood. It is crucial that a more process-based approach be adopted within peatland ecosystems. The environmental problems associated with peat drainage have led, in part, to a recent reversal in attitudes to peatlands and we have seen a move towards wetland restoration.However, a detailed understanding of hydrological, hydrochemical and ecological process-interactions will be fundamental if we are to adequately restore degraded peatlands, preserve those that are still intact and understand the impacts of such management actions at the catchment scale.Keywords: peat, moorland gripping, wetland restoration, water table, blanket peat, afforestation, drainage 2 I IntroductionPeat is decaying organic matter that has accumulated under saturated conditions. Formation of peat therefore occurs in areas of positive water balance. Peatlands are more likely to form in regions with high precipitation excess, such as upland areas of the temperate and boreal zones or in lowland areas where shallow gradients, impermeable substrates or topographic convergence maintain saturation.Classification of peatland types is generally related to two fundamental factors: source of nutrients and source of water. Bogs are ombrotrophic peatlands dependent on precipitation for water and nutrient supply, whereas minerotrophic peatlands or fens are reliant on groundwater for water and nutrient supply (Johnson and Dunham, 1963). Bogs are therefore highly acidic (pH < 4) and contain low amounts of calcium and magnesuim, whereas minertrophic peats are less acidic and tend to be base rich.In England and Wales peat is classified as a deposit of at least 30 cm depth (50 cm in Scotland) containing more than 50 % organic carbon (Johnson and Dunham, 1963).This definition is arbitrary as there is no clear break between a highly organic mineral soil (e.g. podzol) and an almost purely organic Sphagnum peat (Clymo, 1983).However, from this definition it is possible to say that 2.9 million ha or 13 % of Britain is covered in peat, most (2.6 million ha) of which is in Scotland (Milne and Brown, 1997). This represents less than 1 % of the 350 million ha of the northern peatlands that mainly occupy the boreal and subarctic zones (Gorham, 1991). In Britain the dominant peatland is blanket bog which occurs on the gentle slopes of upland plateaux, ridges and benches and is primarily supplied with water and nutrients in the form of precipitat...

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“…Reduced carbon sequestration at sites with a lower water table reflects loss of carbon in both gaseous and dissolved forms. Previous work on water table drawdown in peatlands suggests that because the hydraulic conductivity of the peat is typically very low, the zone of influence of gullies or peatland drains is very short (Burke 1961, Stewart & Lance 1991. Recent monitoring of gully edge water tables on Bleaklow has suggested that the average zone of influence of gullies in terms of immediate gully edge drawdown of the water table is only 2 m (Allott et al 2009).…”

Section: Net Carbon Sequestration In Intact Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of gully erosion on carbon sequestration in blanket peatlands

Evans

Lindsay²

2010

Clim. Res.

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Over 50% of UK soil carbon is stored in peatland systems and 75% of these peatlands are upland blanket bog. The upland blanket bogs of the UK have suffered severe erosion over the last millennium so that they are widely dissected by gully systems. Gully erosion entails primary removal of particulate carbon from the peatland system but also has secondary effects in that it enhances drainage and lowers water tables, potentially enhancing decomposition of surface peats. This paper exploits recent high resolution mapping of the gully erosion on the Bleaklow Plateau in the southern Pennines and existing data on peat growth rates in the area to assess the impact of gully erosion on peatland carbon balance and the relative importance of primary and secondary impacts of gullying on carbon sequestration. The results indicate that gully erosion during the last millennium has shifted the Bleaklow Plateau from being a net sink of carbon (-20. ). The relative importance of gullying impacts can be expressed as follows: particulate organic carbon (POC) flux > change in gully net ecosystem exchange >> loss of gully margin carbon sequestration. The implication of these findings is that the magnitude of the potentially reversible impacts of gully erosion (reduced carbon fixation due to vegetation loss and ongoing erosional loss of POC) far exceed the effects associated with irreversible morphological change (enhanced peat decomposition in gully margin locations). KEY WORDS: Blanket peat · Gully erosion · Carbon balance · Carbon sequestration Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher Contribution to CR Special 24 'Climate change and the British Uplands'

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Effects of Moor-Draining on the Hydrology and Vegetation of Northern Pennine Blanket Bog

Cited by 61 publications

References 6 publications

Effects of peatland drainage management on peak flows

Effects of peatland drainage management on peak flows

Artificial drainage of peatlands: hydrological and hydrochemical process and wetland restoration

Impact of gully erosion on carbon sequestration in blanket peatlands

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