1. Peatlands and Greenhouse Gas
Emissions
Mark Cooper, Chris Evans, Piotr Zielinski, Tim
Jones, Annette Burden, Mike Peacock, Chris
Freeman, Mike Billett, Nick Ostle, Pete
Levy, Kerry Dinsmore, et al.

2. Talk Structure
• CEH Carbon Catchment Project
• Effects of drainage ditch blocking
• Effects of atmospheric deposition
Acknowledging CEH, WCCL and Bangor
University

3. CEH ‘Carbon Catchments’
UK Soil C
Auchencorth Moss Forsinard
Moor House Upper Conwy
• Ecosystem carbon balance being measured at four peat
catchments (land-atmosphere and dissolved C fluxes)
• Experimental components:
– Drained/undrained (Forsinard)
– Burnt/unburnt (Moor House)
– High/low nitrogen deposition (Auchencorth)
– High/low acid deposition (Conwy)

4. Carbon Catchments Forsinard
Baseline monitoring Auchencorth
Moor House
Migneint
Gas exchange
DOC input in from bog-
precipitation pool system
Land surface
exchange of CO2
and CH4
Floating chambers
or tracer gas
injections
Evasion of
CO2 and CH4
Array of static from stream
chambers Eddy covariance surface
measurement system
(flux footprint)
Outlet measurement
station: discharge
and aquatic C
concentrations
Peat cores for
measuring C
Downstream export
accumulation rate
of DOC, DIC, POC,
CO2, CH4

5. Main Peatland Carbon Fluxes
CO2 Exchange Methane
Dissolved
CARBON Gases
BALANCE Dissolved
Carbon

6. Site Net CO2 Net C
CH4 DIC DOC POC
exchange balance
Mer Bleue,
-40 4 15 -22
Quebec1
Degerö Stormyr,
-51 11 4 13 -23
N. Sweden2
Glencar, SW
-55 5 15
Ireland7,8
Auchencorth,
-115 <1 15* 25 4 -70
E. Scotland3,4
Moor House,
-20 7 10 23 18 +38
N. England
Migneint,
5 1 19 1
N. Wales

7. Carbon Catchment: Nant Y Brwyn
• Upland Blanket bog which forms part of the Migneint
• Nant Y Brwyn is approx 1.68km2
• Mean annual rainfall is approximately 2200 mm yr–1
• Mean annual temperature is 5.6°C
• Main vegetation consists of
Calluna, Juncus, Sphagnum, Eriophorum
• Light grazing between May and October

8. Carbon Catchment: Nant Y Brwyn
• Flux Tower
• Automated Weather Station
• Static Gas Chamber sampling
• Automated River Monitoring
• Complete carbon budget is still
a working progress

9. Methane

10. Landscape Scale
• Aerial Photography
• Field Surveys
• High Resolution LiDAR

11. Nant Y Brwyn
Estimated Habitat Coverage (%)
Riparian Juncus flush covers 12% & Riparian
contributes 87% of the overall CH4 Juncus Flush
Undrained
budget Calluna Heath
Sphagnum
Gully
Upland Juncus
Flush
Acid
Grassland
Contribution to Landscape CH4 Budget
Riparian Juncus Flush 86.97%
Undrained Calluna Heath 7.30%
Sphagnum Gully 3.91%
Upland Juncus Flush 1.08%
Acid Grassland 0.74%

12. Llyn Serw, Migneint
• Conwy, North Wales
• Habitat – wet Calluna heath on Blanket Peat
– NVC M19 – Calluna, Eriophorum sp., Sphagnum sp.
• Historical Drainage with ditches
– 1920’s & 1930’s running S-SE (mostly re-vegetated)
– 1970’s & 1980’s running N-S
• NT blocked ditches in pilot study in 2008

13. National Trust peat restoration pilot study, Llyn
Serw

14. CO2
CO2 CO2 CO2
CH4 CO2 CH4 CH4 CO2 CH4

15. Transect of trace Gas Measurements
Dip well
Gas Measurement
Transect
A B C D E
Code F A B C D E F
Gas Measurements - between 11am – 3pm

16. Before:
Two years after:
After:

17. Results Summary
• Infilled ditches contribute a significant
percentage to landscape scale methane budget
despite occupying a tiny percentage of the
landscape
• Compensating increase in CO2 sequestration not
yet quantified
• Vegetation in ditch is critically important for CH4
flux
• Is this a transient or a long-term effect?

18. Defra project to assess the impacts of peat
restoration on the GHG balance
• Five year field experiment to evaluate the effects of peat restoration on methane
emissions and the overall C and GHG balance (with Leeds and Open
Universities, National Trust)
• Replicated study of 12 ditches, with 2 ditch-blocking treatments, pre- and post
treatment measurements (CH4, CO2, DOC, discharge, etc)

19. Many thanks
marope@ceh.ac.uk
I am expecting to finish
my PhD 2011/2012.