The restoration of drained afforested blanket bogs is a cost-effective management approach in peatland conservation that aims to restore key ecosystem functions such as biodiversity and carbon storage and sequestration. Although arthropods are one of the most abundant and widespread animal groups in peatlands, little research has been carried out to assess their response to the variety of restoration management techniques that have been applied in afforested blanket bogs. We assessed the effectiveness of restoration by investigating the restoration trajectory of arthropod assemblages in formerly afforested blanket bog. We first looked at the long-term trajectory of arthropod assemblages, as well as carabid and moth taxa, in a chronosequence of tree-felled/drain-blocked treatments. Then, we looked at the short-term response of arthropod and carabid assemblages in treatments under varying regimes of brash management. General arthropod assemblages, and the functional traits of carabids and moths, were used to further investigate what type of biotic and abiotic parameters might be of importance during restoration. Lastly, we looked at potential biondicators of restoration progress to be used in restoration monitoring. The long-term restoration trajectory showed that typical bog assemblages are yet to be achieved due to persistence of generalists, as well as absence of bog specialists. Divergence in assembly trajectory was found at 18 years since onset of restoration, suggesting the emergence of an alternative state. Short-term restoration shows that brash might act as temporary habitat at early stages, where carabids favour lower structurally complex habitats than arthropods. Broad patterns of moth distribution revealed trait syndromes associated with blanket bog, whilst abiotic components such as vegetation structure, temperature, plot perimeter and blanket bog connectivity were found to be key for arthropod assemblages. The latter suggests potential legacy and edge effects associated with the restoration process. Arthropods and carabids showed high habitat specificity and fidelity, providing high bioindicator potential for restoration progress. This thesis shows that typical bog arthropod assemblages largely rely on habitat microstructure, particularly Sphagnum mosses, and associated microclimates for survival. Management can provide temporary refuge for arthropods, but the re-establishment of peat-forming vegetation and water table depth is essential for the return of typical bog assemblages. Though trade-offs might be encountered in the long-term restoration of peatland functions, a restoration framework is provided for the monitoring of arthropod assemblages.

A peatland near Lake Charlotte, Nova Scotia that had been damaged by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) was identified as a compensatory mitigation site. Restoration practices commonly used for harvested peatlands were applied to small sections of ATV damaged peatland. In the test plots, treatments of moss and shrub transplantation, fertilizer application, and straw mulch addition were applied in various combinations to determine the optimum restoration approach for specific areas within the Lake Charlotte peatland complex. The overall objective of this research was to recommend a procedure for the complete restoration of the damaged portions of the peatland. A number of different hydrological, physio-chemical and biological parameters were monitored throughout the 2009 growing season to evaluate the effectiveness of the different treatments. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that techniques developed to restore peatlands degraded by peat extraction activities are also effective for restoring peatlands impacted by ATV use.

It is estimated that peatlands cover around 20% of Scotland’s land area. Scotland’s peatlands are important ecosystems in terms of the services they provide; carbon sequestration, water chemistry and flow regulation, biodiversity, as well as for the homes and livelihoods they offer to their inhabitants. Due to historical management practices over 70% of Scotland’s peatlands are damaged to some degree, and are now in need of restoration. The remaining peat bogs need to be conserved. Peatlands are complex landscapes that require good governance in order to be managed fairly and effectively. This thesis sets out to explore the issues surrounding peatland management and offer some recommendations. Workshops were carried out in Dumfries, The Cairngorms, Thurso and Shetland in order to explore how landowners and managers perceived peatlands and peatland restoration and the potential to fund restoration through the Peatland Code Payment for Ecosystem Services Scheme. The main findings were; there was confusion over the policy concerning peatlands, landowners and managers felt uncertain of the potential carbon benefits and methods to predict them, the Peatland Code focuses on carbon benefits and landowners and managers cared more about water and wildlife. These findings prompted a more in depth study of the objectives, priorities and values of landowners and managers through the use of qualitative interviews, and a policy analysis to clarify funding options and regulations and to identify potential barriers. Sixty-seven semi-structured interviews were carried out with landowners and managers from the four regions around Scotland. These were analysed in order to find common themes. Many of the interviewees had social and environmental aims for their land, as well as financial aims. There was a very strong sense of care and responsibility for the land, which was linked to heritage, legacy and identity. Communication was poor between different groups (landowners vs crofters, locals vs incomers, landowners and managers vs NGOs, Scientists, Politicians), fostering a sense of discord or antagonism. This lead to a lack of trust and a reluctance to engage with other groups, exacerbating communication issues. Poor communication means that the good environmental intensions of evident from the interviews did not always translate into action. Exceptions to this always involved face-to-face communication, site visits, and a long term relationship allowing the build-up of trust. Policy documents relating to peatlands were reviewed. Findings were presented at a workshop attended by peatland policy experts, in order to identify gaps or misconceptions, which were then addressed. Peatlands do not have their own policy area, but are mentioned in policy related to agriculture, forestry, fresh water and biodiversity. Peatlands are most often mentioned in terms of their carbon sequestration potential. They are poorly integrated in fresh water policy. This shows a mismatch between the interests of policy-makers, and the interests of practitioners, as identified in the workshops. Funding for peatland restoration is limited, restrictive in terms of activities that will be funded, and the application process is onerous. The regulations are poorly communicated leading many to fear they will be penalised for undertaking management that is beneficial to peatlands. There are few policies with the intention of building capacity through information provision or training. The uncertainty surrounding funding options for peatland restoration may discourage contractors from diversifying in this area, leading to a shortage of people with the skills necessary to carry out the work. In all three chapters there is a common thread that the various policies and schemes created in order to facilitate conservation and restoration of peatlands do not adequately harness the feelings of care and responsibility towards the environment that are present in the landowning and managing communities. This is due to poor communication and a misunderstanding of the various perspectives of groups in these areas, leading to sometimes obstructive policies which fall short of their ambitions.

Eva Novozámská Dynamics of moss overgrowth in ditches in restorated drained mires in area of Modrava bogs (Šumava NP) Abstract This thesis is devoted to a research of induced and natural Sphagnum overgrowth in dammed ditches in restorated drained mires of Šumava National Park within the "Programme of Peatland restoration". Induced overgrowth was studied on the peatlands Cikánská slať, Luzenská slať and Novohuťské močály and 36 permanent experimental sites were established for its study. In 2006 Sphagnum fallax or Sphagnum majus were placed in each site in dependence on the type of locality. For four years increase or decrease of Sphagnum were monitored. The study of natural overgrowth was investigated on the same localities as induced overgrowth. The Sphagnum cover was noted in the year 2009 at 65 sites. The depth of the ditch and the flow of water were the most important variables influencing natural overgrowth and the cover was almost the same on all localities. In the case of induced overgrowth the most important parameters were depth and width of the ditch, amount of the branch support and the interaction of depth and width. The depth of the ditch in the case of natural overgrowth was used to generate a model for prediction of Sphagnum cover. It was possible to compare the induced overgrowth with the...

Large areas of northern peatlands have been drained and afforested in the second half of the 20th century with significant impacts on important ecosystem services, including loss of biodiversity and potential changes in C storage. A considerable effort is currently invested into restoring original peatland function and ecosystem services, with an increasing area of newly restored peatland areas over recent years. However, the effect of restoration on the greenhouse gas (GHG) budget is unknown. This study is the first quantification of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes from forest-to-bog restoration sites spanning 0 to 17 years in age. Further, the impact of afforestation on peat decomposition is measured in situ, and the impact of afforestation on the biochemical composition of the peat in relation to CO2 and CH4 fluxes is investigated. Results show that forest-to-bog restoration is successful from a GHG perspective, since all three major GHG fluxes of the restoration sites are changing along the chronosequence towards the fluxes from near pristine bog sites. The peat decomposition rate under the forest plantations is a big part of the total soil respiration at 126.8 ± 14.7 g C m-2 y-1 (44% of total soil CO2 efflux) and our results indicate a slowing down of peat decomposition towards the near pristine bog. CH4 fluxes increase with restoration age, whilst all sites remain a small sink for N2O. I observed changes in peat quality and nutrient availability in the pore water under forests. Different CO2 fluxes between vegetation-free peat cores from different sites for the same temperature and water level show that these differences in peat quality and nutrient availability shape the biogeochemical processes in the peatlands. However only small differences in CH4 fluxes between sites were evident, suggesting that on its own (and in absence of biotic interactions under field conditions), forestry effects on CH4 flux are limited.

Inland waters including streams, rivers, reservoirs and lakes are regarded as a significant site of Organic Carbon (OC) cycling, and greenhouse gas production. As a result, there has been significant recent interest in the rates and fate of fluvial carbon exported from organic soils, such as peatlands. Additionally, peatlands can be subject to substantial degradation resulting in high rates of fluvial OC export, and this has led to efforts to repair degraded peatlands through restoration programmes. As a consequence, the study of degraded areas is useful to quantify the upper values of carbon release, understand processes of transformation, and evaluate the success of restoration programmes. Importantly peatlands are also collection areas for drinking water, which has implications for treatment, and requires better understanding of carbon cycling upstream of treatment works, in headwater rivers, reservoirs and pipes. UK upland blanket peat catchments are a key location in which to consider global questions surrounding fluvial carbon export and transformations, as they are highly degraded, provide a source of drinking water supply, and are currently undergoing pioneering methods of landscape scale restoration. This thesis considers Kinder Scout, an area of highly degraded and gullied blanket peatland in the South Pennines, UK. Using analysis of water samples collected over several years in the Kinder reservoir catchment and plateau, this thesis presents three novel contributions to global questions concerning OC cycling and peatlands. Firstly it provides (to date), the only carbon budget for a reservoir in a peat dominated catchment with high Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) export, which demonstrates that reservoirs may be net sources of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC), with the implication that POC-DOC interactions are important OC transformation mechanism in degraded systems. Secondly through use of a unique integrated combination of methods, it considers changes in carbon flux and composition in both river, lake and pipe locations, providing detailed understanding of the relative roles of river reaches, reservoirs and supply pipes, in controlling fluvial carbon cycling in peatland systems, and upstream of water treatment works. An important implication here, is that rate and direction of change in water treatability varies through a catchment. Finally, it includes results from the first widespread monitoring of the catchment scale effects of a new method of peatland revegetation. This restoration approach is being applied at landscape scale and the findings here, are that despite fears to the contrary, it does not lead to short term increases in fluvial carbon loss, which is an important piece of evidence supporting practical conservation approaches in these systems. To further enhance this research, a combination of field and laboratory investigations into carbon transformation processes, and ongoing restoration mentoring should be undertaken.

Upland peatlands provide vital ecosystem services, especially carbon storage and biodiversity. However, large areas of peatland are heavily degraded in the UK. When peat becomes exposed the potential for it to actively sequester carbon is greatly reduced and carbon stores are rapidly lost through erosion. Peatland restoration is a tool that addresses the government public service agreement targets for biodiversity, and soil and water protection in uplands. Blanket bogs are a UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitat. Many areas fall under designations for sites of protection under the EU habitats directive which is aimed at bringing the areas into ‘favourable condition’.The Moors for the Future Partnership is restoring large areas of badly eroded peat in the Peak District National Park to stabilise the surface and re-establish ecosystem functions. Monitoring is of pivotal importance to judge the success of the restoration work. This project assesses the suitability of high resolution remote sensing as an alternative monitoring tool to traditional field based plot surveys which are both time consuming and expensive. Remote sensing has been seen as a potential tool for mapping and monitoring peatlands, but to date the application of high spatial and spectral resolution remote sensing to monitoring peatland restoration has not been fully investigated. A floristic restoration trajectory has been established using a statistical classification (TWINSPAN) of vegetation cover data combined with expert knowledge of previous restoration, and autecology of the moorland species. Hyperspectral classification techniques were applied, including: Spectral Angle Mapping (SAM); Support Vector Machines (SVM); and maximum likelihood classification using both Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF), and narrow band vegetation indices. A successful classification of the restoration succession has been achieved. A predictive model for vegetation cover of plant functional types has been produced using a Partial Least Squares Regression and applied to the whole restoration site at the landscape-scale. RMSEs of between 10 and 16% indicate that the models can be used as a useful operational tool. A spectral library of key moorland species and their phenological response has been established using field spectroscopy in parallel to the image analysis. This has enabled the suggestion that the species are most separable from one another in July and it is recommended that this is the optimal month for remote sensing monitoring. This has facilitated the development of a set of recommendations for the most appropriate vegetation indices to use throughout the year depending species to be differentiated. High spatial and spectral resolution remote sensing data is needed to successfully characterise the vegetation response to restoration management in the upland peatland environment.

Peatlands are associated with a range of ecosystem services such as long-term carbon storage and sequestration, biodiversity, and potential water reservoirs, mitigating floods and droughts. However, in the 20th century, large peatland areas in the northern temperate and boreal regions were drained by ditching, primarily to enhance forest and agricultural production and peat harvesting. Drainage of peatland is associated with a reduction in wet tolerant peatland species, reduced long term carbon sequestration and increased carbon emissions, conflicting with the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Paris Agreement. Today, there is a big ongoing effort from society to rewet and restore drained peatlands in Sweden, but post- restoration monitoring to evaluate success are often scarce. Here, I examine the recovery of a restored drained and afforested bog in Southern Sweden, using a pristine area of the bog as the reference target. The aim was to ascertain to what extend the restoration had succeed and its potential to fully recover. During one year pore water quality, water level and peat surface level were monitored. In the fall peat cores were collected to investigate differences in peat physical and elemental and the microbial biomass and composition. I found that there are still considerable differences between restored and reference area, most marked by the deeper water level in the restored area, but this was not due to a reduced capacity of peat oscillation (i.e. the peats ability to expand and shrink to follow the water table. However, the restoration had raised the water table closer to the surface when compared to other drained areas in Sweden. The study also found considerable higher quantities and higher aromaticity of dissolved organic matter (e.g. DOC) in the porewater of the restored area and an overall lower total amount of microbial biomass with altered community composition, with higher relative amounts’ of fungi and G- negative bacteria’s in the restored area. The nutrient profile in the porewater (inorganic N,P,K) were similar to what was found in the reference area. In conclusion, both the hydrological and porewater chemistry status are currently most likely sufficient for wet-dwelling peat mosses to establish. Here, I argue that the restoration effect is noticeable but complete recovery is yet far away and there is a risk of recession towards afforestation if peat mosses fails to re-establish.

No description available.

Organic micropollutants (OMPs) in climate change affected natural environment such as wetlands, and engineered systems have brought serious concerns for water security and public health. These issues have increased the demand for better managing water resources and developing effective technologies for aqueous micropollutants removal. This thesis investigated these subjects through the following five sub-research projects. First, boreal peatland was used as a case study for understanding how peatland fires and droughts impacts peatland resilience. Laboratory results suggested that heating and moisture condition, coupled with peat organic hydrophobic transformations, influence peat soil hydrophobicity and the resultant water-extractable pollutant leaching, which potentially threatens peatland downstream receiving waters such as potable waters by high organic loads. Further, post-fire peat chemistry and their mechanistic relationships to leached pollutants (total organic carbon (TOC), nutrients and phenols) were elucidated through a laboratory leaching study. Increased contaminant loading was observed in post-heated peat leachates, suggesting negative effects to water treatment efficiency and an increase of treatment costs to surface waters as potable water source. Next, peat soils damaged from extreme fires and droughts were upcycled for producing high surface area, value-added porous carbons based on a rapid, facile chemical activation approach. This application had the simultaneous benefit of peatland ecological restoration, protecting downstream communities from heavy run-off, and using the sustainable damaged peats for effective environmental remediation though adsorption. Moreover, a critical review of nano-enabled composite membranes for OMP removal (size-exclusion, adsorption, charge interaction, and photo- and electro-catalysis) and their respective benefits and limitations were discussed. This work brought new perspectives for next-generation nanocomposite membranes for OMP removal. Finally, a novel, hyperbranched polyethylenimine (HPEI) crosslinked iron doped reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposite membrane was synthesized for process-intensified flow-through separation of phenolic micropollutants. Mechanisms and separation performance to phenolic micropollutant and azo dyes were investigated. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Climate change, industrial manufacture, and population growth have been exacerbating the global water stress. Organic micropollutants (OMPs) are potentially toxic, persistent and can exist even at trace levels, which have been increasingly discovered and identified in natural and built systems. In this research, environmental chemistry of climate-change impacted boreal peatland soils, and their mechanistic relationships to peat soil hydrophobicity, organic substance transformations, micropollutant leaching, and impacts to downstream potable water quality was investigated as a case study. Two different innovative water treatment strategies were developed for restoring peatland resilience and enhancing water resource sustainability including treating peatland phenolic micropollutants. The first approach converted shallow layer wildfire- and drought- damaged peats into value-added porous carbons for adsorption. The second approach synthesized a novel reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposite membrane for process-intensified flow-through separation. These solutions provide novel insights for source water protection and wastewater treatment in adaption to climate change.