The sensitivity of peat-covered upland landscapes

Bragg, Olivia; Tallis, John

doi:10.1016/s0341-8162(00)00146-6

Cited by 91 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Anthropogenic impact on sites, through burning and drainage, has also been suggested to be one possible reason for the decline of this "sensitive" species (Hill, 1988). Eriophorum vaginatum has been shown to temporarily dominate peatland vegetation communities following burning events (Bragg andTallis, 2001, Holden et al, 2007). Roebroek et al (2009) suggest that this results in a fluctuating water table, which allows species that…”

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the cause of the Sphagnum austinii (Sull. ex Aust.) decline: Multiproxy evidence from a raised bog in Northern Ireland

Swindles

Turner

Roe

et al. 2015

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the cause of the Sphagnum austinii (Sull. ex Aust.) decline: Multiproxy evidence from a raised bog in Northern Ireland

Swindles

Turner

Roe

et al. 2015

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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“…However, that is not to say that vegetation or hydrochemical recovery will follow. Bragg & Tallis (2001) emphasized that peatland biodiversity is highly vulnerable. Changes to peat pH and nutrient status as a result of environmental change can also make ecological restoration difficult.…”

Section: (A ) Water Table Recovery and Vegetation Recolonizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peatland hydrology and carbon release: why small-scale process matters

Holden

2005

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

343

276

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Peatlands cover over 400 million hectares of the Earth's surface and store between onethird and one-half of the world's soil carbon pool. The long-term ability of peatlands to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere means that they play a major role in moderating global climate. Peatlands can also either attenuate or accentuate flooding. Changing climate or management can alter peatland hydrological processes and pathways for water movement across and below the peat surface. It is the movement of water in peats that drives carbon storage and flux. These small-scale processes can have global impacts through exacerbated terrestrial carbon release. This paper will describe advances in understanding environmental processes operating in peatlands. Recent (and future) advances in high-resolution topographic data collection and hydrological modelling provide an insight into the spatial impacts of land management and climate change in peatlands. Nevertheless, there are still some major challenges for future research. These include the problem that impacts of disturbance in peat can be irreversible, at least on human time-scales. This has implications for the perceived success and understanding of peatland restoration strategies. In some circumstances, peatland restoration may lead to exacerbated carbon loss. This will also be important if we decide to start to create peatlands in order to counter the threat from enhanced atmospheric carbon.

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“…Owing to the now widely accepted significance of these ecosystems, a number of studies have been undertaken to ascertain how these various processes will shape the future of British peatlands (e.g. Barkham 1993, Bragg & Tallis 2001, Davies et al 2008, Bonn et al 2009, Reed et al 2009). The present study contributes to continuing investigations into the fate of British peatland ecosystems by applying a simple but globally applicable and process-based bioclimatic envelope model using present and projected future climates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioclimatic envelope model of climate change impacts on blanket peatland distribution in Great Britain

Gallego‐Sala¹,

Clark²,

House³

et al. 2010

Clim. Res.

111

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Blanket peatlands are rain-fed mires that cover the landscape almost regardless of topography. The geographical extent of this type of peatland is highly sensitive to climate. We applied a global process-based bioclimatic envelope model, PeatStash, to predict the distribution of British blanket peatlands. The model captures the present areal extent (Kappa = 0.77) and is highly sensitive to both temperature and precipitation changes. When the model is run using the UKCIP02 climate projections for the time periods 2011-2040, 2041-2070 and 2071-2100, the geographical distribution of blanket peatlands gradually retreats towards the north and the west. In the UKCIP02 high emissions scenario for 2071-2100, the blanket peatland bioclimatic space is ~84% smaller than contemporary conditions ; only parts of the west of Scotland remain inside this space. Increasing summer temperature is the main driver of the projected changes in areal extent. Simulations using 7 climate model outputs resulted in generally similar patterns of declining aereal extent of the bioclimatic space, although differing in degree. The results presented in this study should be viewed as a first step towards understanding the trends likely to affect the blanket peatland distribution in Great Britain. The eventual fate of existing blanket peatlands left outside their bioclimatic space remains uncertain.

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The sensitivity of peat-covered upland landscapes

Cited by 91 publications

References 41 publications

Testing the cause of the Sphagnum austinii (Sull. ex Aust.) decline: Multiproxy evidence from a raised bog in Northern Ireland

Testing the cause of the Sphagnum austinii (Sull. ex Aust.) decline: Multiproxy evidence from a raised bog in Northern Ireland

Peatland hydrology and carbon release: why small-scale process matters

Bioclimatic envelope model of climate change impacts on blanket peatland distribution in Great Britain

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