Why warmer summers will be great... for peat's sake
Ireland is trying to encourage more peatland growth to trap vast amounts of carbon. Peatlands contain approximately five times more carbon than their forests. However, European peatlands have been damaged by pollution, draining and climate change.
Professor Graeme Swindles, from the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen's University in Belfast, has been leading a team examining peat accumulation rates, studying cores from 28 bogs across Europe. Warmer summers could help boost growth rates in European peatlands and aid Ireland reaching its climate targets, research has found. Pic: Getty Images
The study, which has now been published in the research journal PLOS One, reveals that the fastest peat accumulation – nearly 0.5 cm per year – occurred around the Baltic Sea, at sites in Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and Finland, which experience warm and humid summers.
The slowest peat accumulation was in northern Sweden, which has cold winters and a short growing season.
Across all sites, peat was found to have accumulated fastest in regions with warm summer temperatures, which improves plant growth, and a water table located around 10 cm below the surface. The slowest peat accumulation was in northern Sweden, which has cold winters and a short growing season. Pic: Shutterstock
Prof. Swindles said the study suggests warmer summer temperatures could boost growth rates in European peatlands – but only if the water table stays high enough.
He said. 'These findings strengthen current evidence and have important implications for how we restore and rewet peatlands as part of global efforts to tackle climate change.'
Prof. Swindles has also suggested that previous peatland restoration programmes should be evaluated to determine if their relative successes or deficiencies corroborate these findings.
In March, research from the Environmental Protection Agency showed that Ireland is vastly under-reporting its level of turf cutting.
The research showed that 65,000 hectares of raised bog have been cut up for domestic use, nearly 162 times more than the 400 hectares that Ireland has reported to the United Nations.
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Why warmer summers will be great... for peat's sake
Warmer summers could help boost growth rates in European peatlands and aid Ireland reaching its climate targets, research has found. Ireland is trying to encourage more peatland growth to trap vast amounts of carbon. Peatlands contain approximately five times more carbon than their forests. However, European peatlands have been damaged by pollution, draining and climate change. Professor Graeme Swindles, from the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen's University in Belfast, has been leading a team examining peat accumulation rates, studying cores from 28 bogs across Europe. Warmer summers could help boost growth rates in European peatlands and aid Ireland reaching its climate targets, research has found. Pic: Getty Images The study, which has now been published in the research journal PLOS One, reveals that the fastest peat accumulation – nearly 0.5 cm per year – occurred around the Baltic Sea, at sites in Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and Finland, which experience warm and humid summers. The slowest peat accumulation was in northern Sweden, which has cold winters and a short growing season. Across all sites, peat was found to have accumulated fastest in regions with warm summer temperatures, which improves plant growth, and a water table located around 10 cm below the surface. The slowest peat accumulation was in northern Sweden, which has cold winters and a short growing season. Pic: Shutterstock Prof. Swindles said the study suggests warmer summer temperatures could boost growth rates in European peatlands – but only if the water table stays high enough. He said. 'These findings strengthen current evidence and have important implications for how we restore and rewet peatlands as part of global efforts to tackle climate change.' Prof. Swindles has also suggested that previous peatland restoration programmes should be evaluated to determine if their relative successes or deficiencies corroborate these findings. In March, research from the Environmental Protection Agency showed that Ireland is vastly under-reporting its level of turf cutting. The research showed that 65,000 hectares of raised bog have been cut up for domestic use, nearly 162 times more than the 400 hectares that Ireland has reported to the United Nations.
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