Authors:
Harri Vasander, Meeri Pearson and Raija Laiho
Book:
Proceedings of the 15th International Peat Congress
Venue:
Kuching
Keywords:
continuous-cover-forestry, drainage, peatland-forestry, restoration
Documentfile:
ipc16p66-69a270vasanderpearson.etal_.pdf
Summary:
SUMMARY
Approximately 15 million ha of peatland have been drained to improve forest growth. Most of this area is in Northern Europe, while Finland holds the world record with close to 5 million ha of forestry-drained peatlands. Drainage aims to lower the water-table level, thus extending the rooting zone and improving its oxygen status, and increasing tree growth through improved root functioning. Many peatlands are well suited for forestry because of the relatively high soil nitrogen content, even though the nutrient regime of peatlands varies widely. Yet, since peatlands are highly dynamic ecosystems with an organic soil, they are likely to respond to land use with greater adverse environmental impacts, such as loading of watercourses and release of CO2 from the soil, than mineral soil