The Effect of Water Table Rising on Nutrient and Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) Release From Restored Peatland Forests

Authors:
Annu Kaila, Zaki-ul-Zaman Asam, Sakari Sarkkola, Liwen Xiao, Ari Laurén, Mika Nieminen

Book:
Proceedings of the 14th International Peat Congress

Venue:
Stockholm

Keywords:
doc, incubation-experiment, nutrient-mobilization, restoration

Documentfile:
Kaila et al 2012: The Effect of Water Table Rising on Nutrient and Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) Release From Restored Peatland

Summary:

Theme VII. Ecology and management on forested peatlands

SUMMARY

Earlier studies have shown contradictory results concerning the impacts of peatland restoration on nutrient and DOC transportation. To clarify these results, we studied the effect of water table (WT) rising on phosphorous (P), iron (Fe), ammonium (NH4⁺-N), nitrate (NO3^–-N), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) mobilization with a laboratory microcosm incubation experiment. Peat soil samples were collected from two blanket bogs in Ireland and five contrasting sites in Finland. The results indicated significant differences in P, N, and DOC release due to water-logging, with from almost no increase to over hundred-fold increase compared with the columns subjected to aerobic conditions.