Peatlands and Greenhouse Gas Emissions - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Peatlands and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Mark Cooper, Chris Evans, Piotr Zielinski, Tim Jones, Annette Burden, Mike Peacock, Chris Freeman, Mike Billett, Nick Ostle, Pete Levy, Kerry Dinsmore, et al.Slide2

Talk Structure

CEH Carbon Catchment ProjectEffects of drainage ditch blockingEffects of atmospheric depositionAcknowledging CEH, WCCL and Bangor UniversitySlide3

UK Soil C

Auchencorth Moss

Moor House

Forsinard

Upper Conwy

CEH ‘Carbon Catchments’

Ecosystem carbon balance being measured at four peat catchments (land-atmosphere and dissolved C fluxes)

Experimental components:

Drained/

undrained

(

Forsinard

)

Burnt/

unburnt

(Moor House)

High/low nitrogen deposition (

Auchencorth

)

High/low acid deposition

(

Conwy)Slide4

Carbon Catchments

Baseline monitoring

Migneint

Moor House

Auchencorth

ForsinardSlide5

CARBON

BALANCE

CO

2

Exchange

Methane

Dissolved

Gases

Dissolved

Carbon

Main Peatland Carbon FluxesSlide6

Site

Net CO

2

exchange

CH

4

DIC

DOC

POC

Net C balance

Mer

Bleue

, Quebec

1

-40

4

15

-22

Degerö

Stormyr

, N. Sweden

2

-51

11

4

13

-23

Glencar

, SW Ireland

7,8

-55

5

15

Auchencorth, E. Scotland

3,4

-115

<1

15*

25

4

-70

Moor House, N. England

-20

7

10

23

18

+38

Migneint

, N. Wales

5

1

19

1Slide7

Carbon Catchment: Nant Y Brwyn

Upland Blanket bog which forms part of the Migneint Nant Y Brwyn is approx 1.68km2Mean annual rainfall is approximately 2200 mm yr

–1Mean annual temperature is 5.6°CMain vegetation consists of Calluna

, Juncus, Sphagnum, Eriophorum

Light grazing between May and OctoberSlide8

Carbon Catchment: Nant Y Brwyn

Flux TowerAutomated Weather StationStatic Gas Chamber samplingAutomated River MonitoringComplete carbon budget is still a working progressSlide9

MethaneSlide10

Landscape Scale

Aerial Photography

Field Surveys

High Resolution LiDARSlide11

Nant Y Brwyn

Riparian

Juncus flush covers 12% & contributes 87% of the overall CH

4 budget

Riparian

Juncus

Flush

86.97%

Undrained

Calluna

Heath

7.30%

Sphagnum Gully

3.91%

Upland

Juncus

Flush

1.08%

Acid Grassland

0.74%

Contribution to Landscape CH

4

BudgetSlide12

Llyn Serw, Migneint

Conwy, North WalesHabitat – wet Calluna heath on Blanket PeatNVC M19 – Calluna,

Eriophorum sp., Sphagnum sp.Historical Drainage with ditches1920’s & 1930’s running S-SE

(mostly re-vegetated)1970’s & 1980’s running N-S

NT blocked ditches in pilot study in 2008 Slide13

National Trust peat restoration pilot study, Llyn

SerwSlide14

CH

4

CH

4

CO

2

CO

2

CH

4

CH

4

CO

2

CO

2

CO

2

CO

2Slide15

Transect of trace Gas Measurements

A

D

C

B

E

F

A

D

C

B

E

F

Dip well

Gas Measurement

Transect

Code

Gas Measurements - between 11am – 3pmSlide16

Before:

After:

Two years after:Slide17

Results Summary

Infilled ditches contribute a significant percentage to landscape scale methane budget despite occupying a tiny percentage of the landscapeCompensating increase in CO2

sequestration not yet quantifiedVegetation in ditch is critically important for CH4 flux

Is this a transient or a long-term effect?Slide18

Defra project to assess the impacts of peat restoration on the GHG balance

Five year

field experiment to evaluate the effects of peat restoration on methane emissions and the overall C and GHG balance (with Leeds and Open Universities, National Trust)

Replicated study of 12 ditches, with 2 ditch-blocking treatments,

pre- and post treatment measurements (CH

4

, CO

2

, DOC, discharge, etc)Slide19

Many thanks

marope@ceh.ac.ukI am expecting to finish my PhD 2011/2012.