Management and Restoration of Wooded Peatland in Alberta Bin Xu NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges, Peatland Restoration NAIT
Peatland Wetland with a minimum depth of 40cm peat, a deposit of plant and animal remains accumulated in place under water-saturated conditions through incomplete decomposition Mire: a developing ecosystem with peat-forming vegetation but <40cm of accumulated peat Water storage, pollutant filtration, habitat, resource (peat), and carbon sequestration and long-term storage 3
Restoration of peatlands is a low hanging fruit, and among the most cost-effective options for mitigating climate change - Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director UN Environment Programme (UNEP, 2007) 3% (4M km 2 ) Global 12% (1.14M km 2 ) Canada 18% (120k km 2 ) Alberta 570 gt C (1/3 total global soil C) net cooling of climate 147 gt C Canada (56%) Tarnocai, C., Kettles, I.M., and Lacelle, B., 2011. Peatlands of Canada; Geological Survey 18-10-11 of Canada, Open File 6561 4
Mesotrophic Oligotrophic Total nutrient availability Production Decomposition Eutrophic Swamp Bog Poor Fen Moderate- Rich Fen Extreme- Rich Fen Fresh Water Marsh Saline Wetland Tidal Marsh W et t e r Open Wooded Sphagnum True Moss Open Water Vitt 1994
Trees Shrub + Graminoids Mosses Szumigalski and Bayley (1996)
Water table WET DRY Moore et al. 2002
Micro-topography Hummock Hummock Lawn Hollow Lawn Pool Water Table Sphagnum mosses Diagram by Melissa Kucey True mosses
Shrubby Fens Site 1 Stems Harvested Average height (m) Average Number of stems Basal Diameter Range (cm) Stem Length Range (cm) Dried Biomass Range (g) Alnus spp. 23 3.09 8 0.64 5.70 89-389 16-1598 Salix spp. 37 1.46 26 0.31-2.76 60-209 7-386 Betula pumila 25 1.59 18 0.31-1.37 39-250 6-129 Site 2 Alnus spp. 6 4.89-3.12 5.18 381-545 643-2718 Salix spp. 12 3.45-1.16 2.75 242-450 78-1635 He et al. 2018, Developing Allometric Equations for Estimating Shrub Biomass in a Boreal Fen Forests, in print
Peatland in Canada Forestry Agriculture Beaver Fire www.nrcan.gc.ca Permafrost thaw N deposition CO 2 fertilization Mining Peat harvesting Reservoir creation Linear disturbance
Fire Net C accumulation (mol m -2 yr -1 ) 20 15 10 5 0-5 Ectomycorrhizal fine root C accumulation Wieder et al. (2009) Global Change Biology Black spruce aboveground C accumulation Understory NEE Total net C accumulation Black spruce coarse root C accumulation Net sink Net source -10 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Time since fire (yr)
Permafrost Thaw Degradation of permafrost in peatland Lower, wetter surface Reduced tree cover Increase in CH 4 emission Increased net carbon storage https://forestecology.ca/research/northern/ Unfrozen bog Intact permafrost Turetsky et al. 2007 Camill et al. 2010
Drought Ten years of drainage Mosses replaced by shrubs at hummock and lichens at hollows Increased decomposition, root respiration, and CO 2 emissions (source) Offset by increasing woody productivity 2014
Ecological Peatland Restoration The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed (SER Primer 2004) The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed (SER Primer 2004) Assistance is key, and the approach is ecosystem-centric Hydrology, topography, substrate/ chemistry, vegetation
Managing for Biodiversity is the variety of life from genes to species, communities and ecosystems (UN Environment) Closely linked to Ecosystem Services, functions of ecosystems that provide benefits to human well-being (Mace et al. 2012) Provisioning Regulating Cultural Nutrition (food, plants, animal, drinking water) Material (peat, paper, growing medium) Climate regulation (C sequestration) Water flow, filtration, bioremediation Recreation, hunting, fishing The ultimate goal and success is the Spiritual and/or emblematic return of C sequestration function Energy (biomass fuel) Soil formation, habitat and peat accumulation Mace, G. M., Norris, K., & Fitter, A. H. (2012). Biodiversity and ecosystem services: a multilayered relationship. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 27(1), 19 26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree. 2011.08.006 http:// www.canadiannat urephotographer. com/news/ caribou.jpg
Peatland Reclamation Criteria
Temporary Features
Mounding and Planting
Mounding and Planting 2014 2018
Peatland Restoration of Well Pads Complete Removal/Peat Inversion + Moss Layer Transfer (PI-MLTT) Partial Removal/Wetting + Planting à Initiation on Mineral Substrate (MI) COSIA 2017
Complete Removal + Moss Layer Transfer 1 000 m 2 harvested 10 000m 2 to restore (12 800m 2 minus control zone) 600 m 2 200 m 2 200 m 2 Inversion Pad
2018
Partial Removal + Planting Summer 2008 2018 Vitt, D. H., R. K. Wieder, B. Xu, M. Kaskie, and S. Koropchak. 2011. Peatland establishment on mineral soils: Effects of water level, amendments, and species after two growing seasons. Ecological Engineering 37:354 363.
Partial Removal + Moss Layer Transfer 2010 2018 2018 Gauthier, M.-E., Rochefort, L., Nadeau, L., Hugron, S., and Xu, B. 2017. Testing the moss layer transfer technique on mineral well pads constructed in peatlands. Wetl. Ecol. Manag.
What else? Natural recovery Reclaimed upland Reclaimed peatland
THANK YOU Peatlands are inherently low in biodiversity and productivity and shaped by non-woody species Trees and shrubs are highly adapted and vital to ecosystem functions Growth of woody species rely on suitable microsites Disturbed sites require reclamation assistance Natural ingress and establishment is slow Unprecedented conditions and challenges