Authors:
Rémy Pouliot, Roxane Andersen, Line Rochefort, Flor Salvador
Book:
Proceedings of the 14th International Peat Congress
Venue:
Stockholm
Keywords:
above-ground-net-primary-production-bog-decomposition-organic-matter-accumulation-potential-restoration-sphagnum
Documentfile:
Pouliot et al 2012: Return of Peat Accumulation Function in a Restored Cutover Peatland: A Question of Imbalance
Summary:
Theme V. Restoration, rehabilitation and after-use of disturbed peatlands
SUMMARY
Bringing back a healthy plant cover in cutover peatland is not sufficient to reset the capacity to sequester organic matter. It is the imbalance between inputs and outputs that needs to be re-established in restored peatlands. To verify this imbalance, organic matter accumulation potential was estimated as the difference between losses in the aerobic zone and inputs through aboveground net primary production along a gradient going from absence of Sphagnum to natural hummock communities. Losses were estimated from a reciprocal transplant experiment of litter bags containing fibric Sphagnum or residual peat. Eight years post-restoration, restored habitats had a small accumulation potential that was still lower than natural peatland