ReVersal

Restoring peatlands of the nemoral zone under conditions of varying water supply and quality

Abstract

The regulatory functions of peatlands in water and element cycles, their carbon sink function, and their role in biodiversity conservation have increasingly become the focus of scientific and public debate. Particularly in the course of ongoing climate change, ombrotrophic peatlands (bogs), pristine, disturbed or under restoration, are increasingly exposed to climate extremes, such as drought, with long-lasting effects on both plant and soil communities and, subsequently, on carbon cycling. Thus, climate change adds to existing difficulties and limitations in bog restoration. These problems are also related to poor knowledge of potential indicators of peatland degradation or of restoration success, such as on the dynamics and budgets of gas fluxes, levels of biodiversity, or water budgets. Moreover, peat degradation alters the water holding capacities and reduces the potential to buffer variations in water availability, further constraining rewetting and restoration. ReVersal aims at bringing together key methods from different peatland-related disciplines to address these research deficiencies, namely from palaeoecology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, greenhouse gas exchange and carbon budgeting, vegetation ecology and biodiversity, and remote sensing.

Reference documents

For more details on the work plan and expected impact of the project and other projects funded in response to the BiodivRestore joint call consult:

Keywords: restoration, rewetting, bog vegetation, greenhouse gases, carbon budget, peatland hydrology, microbial diversity, remote sensing, upscaling, machine learning