Restoration of drained peatlands in southern Finland: initial effects on vegetation change and CO₂ balance

Abstract

Summary1. Components of the CO 2 balance for a drained minerotrophic fen and a drained ombrotrophic bog were measured for permanent plots using static chamber techniques for 1 year before and 2 years after a rewetting treatment in part of both sites. During the same period, changes in ground and bottom layer vegetation composition were monitored. 2. After the treatment, the water table rose, the average increase being 25 cm for the fen site and 20 cm for the bog site. In the untreated areas the average water table remained at the pretreatment level.3. There was a clear change in vegetation composition in the rewetted area of the fen site where the cover of cottongrass Eriophorum vaginatum L. increased drastically. The change in vegetation composition seemed to be dependent on the nutrient status of the sites, being faster at the more nutrient-rich fen site. 4. The rates of CO 2 eux from the soil surface decreased on those rewetted plots where all vegetation had been removed. In 1996, the CO 2 eux rates from the soil surface of the untreated plots were about twice as high as from the rewetted plots with a high water table. 5. The change in water table levels and vegetation composition aected the seasonal (mid-May to end of September) CO 2 -C balances. For the rewetted area of the fen site, the CO 2 -C balance varied from 162 to 283 g m ±2 , being greatest in a plot with dense E. vaginatum cover and a high water table. For the rewetted area of the bog site, the CO 2 -C balance varied from 54 to 101 g m ±2 , being greatest in a hollowlevel plot with a high water table and mire vegetation. For the untreated areas, the CO 2 -C balance was close to zero (3 g m ±2 at the bog site) or negative (±183 g m ±2 at the fen site), when carbon ®xation by the tree stand was omitted. 6. The results are encouraging from the practical point of view as restoration of both fen and bog sites initiated vegetation succession and CO 2 -C balance development towards those of pristine mires.

Fighting carbon loss of degraded peatlands by jump-starting ecosystem functioning with ecological restoration

“…Furthermore, the research seems to be concentrated mainly on peat mining areas (e.g. Komulainen et al 1999. The functional processes like peat accumulation in the surface peat layer are highly important for the longterm C accumulation in peatlands .…”

Annual greenhouse gas budget for a bog ecosystem undergoing restoration by rewetting

“…Rewetting has strong direct and indirect effects on CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes. Raising the water level has been found to suppress the CO 2 efflux from the soil and result in an increase in net CO 2 uptake by native bog vegetation (Komulainen et al, 1999). CH 4 emissions from rewetted sections in a bog in Finland were 3 times higher than the release from the disturbed and dry area (Tuittila et al, 2000).…”

The Impact of Experimental Temperature and Water Level Manipulation on Carbon Dioxide Release in a Poor Fen in Northern Poland

“…decomposition). Therefore, R ECO seems mainly driven by abiotic conditions, such as soil moisture and temperature (Komulainen et al 1999;Dorrepaal et al 2009). However, the relative importance of temperature and hydrological conditions for R ECO is unclear and seems to depend on their relative effect on autotrophic and heterotrophic pathways, which might be decoupled (Lafleur et al 2005).…”