Download Designing a Programme to Address Evidence Gaps in Greenhouse

Synopsis: Designing a Programme to Address Evidence
Gaps in Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Flux from UK
Peatlands
Background and rationale
The UK’s natural peatlands trap immense amounts of carbon from the atmosphere,
containing over half the c.4500 million tonnes stored in the UK’s soils, dwarfing the c.150
million tonnes stored in UK woodlands. However, the function of peatland ecosystems is
often degraded by drainage; peat cutting; afforestation; cultivation, agricultural improvement;
burning; deposition of nutrients from the atmosphere; and vegetation succession. Often
these processes lead to peat in such normally waterlogged systems drying out, creating
aerobic conditions where carbon is lost rapidly as CO2 to the atmosphere through
decomposition of plant matter. Damaged peatlands can also lose their stored carbon through
fluvial pathways, as particulate or dissolved organic matter; and as dissolved inorganic
carbon derived from organic materials.
There is increasing pressure to restore and enhance damaged peatlands to protect the
carbon that they store, as well as for their value for wildlife, landscape, archaeology and
water management. Habitat restoration typically aims to restore peatland hydrology to
encourage waterlogged conditions that will enable peat-forming vegetation like Sphagnum
moss thrive and form new peat deposits, and so retard or ideally prevent losses of peat
carbon as carbon dioxide. However there is some evidence that restoration may increase
emissions of methane (CH4), an even more powerful ‘greenhouse gas’ than CO2; drained
peatlands may even act sequester CH4. Similarly increasing water levels on peatlands that
have received significant inputs of nitrogen from fertilisers or atmospheric sources may
increase emissions of nitrous oxide (NO), another powerful greenhouse gas.
Although the importance of peatland management to greenhouse gas (GHG) flux has been
recognised both at international and domestic levels, many reviews suggest a lack of data
on the typical range of emissions of GHGs associated with the different land uses and
managements applied to UK peatlands. The relationship between peatland management
and rate of fluvial carbon loss has only been well studied in a few upland catchments in the
UK. These studies are geographically limited; have not covered all types of peatlands; and
have not considered rates of loss through these pathways.
All this information is vital in understanding the contribution of different peatland types and
managements to carbon budgets and GHG flux; and the role of peatland restoration in
minimising losses of carbon to both the atmosphere and water.
Aim of this project
The GHG and carbon flux from UK peatlands research project has been set up to look at:
 the evidence base on how peatland type and management affects carbon budgets
and flux;
 how we efficiently plug gaps in our knowledge.
The project has been established by JNCC in partnership with Countryside Council for
Wales, DECC, Defra, Forestry Commission, Natural England, and Scottish Natural Heritage
with support from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Scottish Government and
Welsh Assembly Government
Designing a Programme to Address Evidence Gaps in Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Flux from UK Peatlands v4.1
19 May 2011
Objectives of the project
The GHG and carbon flux research project is designed to inform the following:
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GHG flux reporting - New legislation in development at European, UK and
devolved country levels is likely to require more detailed reporting of GHG and
carbon fluxes from peatlands. However, the GHG emissions from the vast
majority of UK peatlands are not currently reported in the inventory, and recent
estimates have suggested that those emissions that are reported are
underestimates.
Climate change mitigation – in particular to gain a greater understanding the
current role of UK peatlands in climate change; and the role of appropriate
management of peatlands in climate change mitigation.
Informing restoration and management of peatlands – both the impacts of
restoration of peatlands for biodiversity, archaeological, access or other purposes
on their release of greenhouse gases and carbon flux; and to ensure we have an
sound evidence base for demonstrating the greenhouse gas and carbon flux
benefits associated with peatland restoration
Providing evidence for future carbon emission trading schemes - Current
initiatives (e.g., emissions trading schemes) demand a high level of rigour in
proving that a real benefit has been secured, typically requiring three to five years
of monitoring data to support emissions reductions. The benefits of peatland
restoration in many situations have yet to be unequivocally demonstrated, and
very few have been demonstrated over the required timescale.
An overarching consideration is to ensure that any there is a programme of representative
measurements of GHG and carbon fluxes from UK peatland ecosystems, under a range of
different managements, vegetation covers and representing a range of peat conditions.
The project is part of the Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme
(www.lwec.org.uk) and contributes to:
 Objective A, “To predict the impacts of climate change and to promote sustainable
solutions through mitigation and adaptation”; and
 Objective B, “To manage ecosystem services for human well-being and to protect the
natural environment as it changes”.
Core components
The work has been split into 2 closely linked work packages:
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Work Package 1: review of current research and greenhouse gas/ carbon flux
measurement on peatlands
Work Package 1 will bring together current evidence from recent reviews, research
and ‘grey’ literature and build it into a metadata analysis framework. This will be
capable of collating and analysing data from any future research programme. The
analysis will group data according to peatland type and land management.
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Work package 2: Design of a future research and evidence programme to meet
critical gaps
Work package 2 will develop the design for a research and evidence programme which
brings together, and builds on, established monitoring initiatives, networks and
experimental sites.
Designing a Programme to Address Evidence Gaps in Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Flux from UK Peatlands v4.1
19 May 2011
Building on outputs from the meta-analysis, the design will be based on the use of
standard measurement protocols to characterise GHG and C impacts of current
management, and develop a baseline for experimental studies. The project will identify
specific sites and measurements required to address key evidence gaps.
This programme, which should would provide at least 5 years of complete, reliable and
representative information on GHG flux from peatlands of different origins in different key
status types in the UK will be designed to coordinate with, and complement, existing
monitoring programmes. These programmes include relevant parts of Countryside
Survey, the Environmental Change Network and the Environmental Change Biodiversity
Network; build on other related research initiatives such as ECOSSE; and be developed
within the context of the UK Environmental Observation Framework
The review and the design for a UK Peatland GHG and C Flux research programme will be
presented in early 2011 as a business case to support the implementation of the research
programme during a second phase.
Outcomes
The work will help to inform work and future research by public bodies and others in a
number of specific areas, particularly on:
 greenhouse gas reporting;
 peatland restoration and the role of biodiversity in greenhouse gas/ carbon flux;
 future carbon emission trading schemes, and;
 the roles of different types of peatland and peatland management in carbon
sequestration.
It is anticipated that the results of the project, which will be made more widely available, will
be of immediate use to inform two other current national initiatives:
1. The UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA), is the first analysis of the UK’s
natural environment in terms of the benefits it provides to society and continuing
economic prosperity. The work undertaken through this project will aid the NEA to
identify the state of evidence for parts of the carbon cycle in the UK, a critical
ecosystem process in the maintenance of life on Earth.
2.
The IUCN UK Peatland Programme’s Commission of Inquiry into Peatland
Restoration is carrying out a thorough review of key issues around the UK’s
peatlands and aims to deliver a clear scientific consensus about peatland restoration,
particularly in relation to climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem services. In
particular, the review work undertaken under by this project will provide a key input to
the element of this work dealing with climate change mitigation and adaptation
potential of UK peatlands.
Who is involved?
Steering Group
The work has been scoped and commissioned by JNCC in partnership with:
 Natural England
 Defra
 Scottish Natural Heritage
 Countryside Council for Wales
 Department of Energy and Climate Change
Designing a Programme to Address Evidence Gaps in Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Flux from UK Peatlands v4.1
19 May 2011
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Forestry Commission
Scottish Government
Welsh Assembly Government
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency
Researchers
The work is being carried out by a consortium led by Dr Fred Worrall, University of Durham
together with:
 Professor Joseph Holden, University of Leeds
 Dr Pippa Chapman, University of Leeds
 Professor Pete Smith, University of Aberdeen
 Dr Chris Evans, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
 Dr Rebekka Artz, Macaulay Institute
When will outputs be available?
The work started in February 2010 and is currently due to report in early 2011.
A 1 day post-project workshop (probably in Peterborough) will be held within a month of the
completion of the project to which all project partners and other key stakeholders will be
invited.
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Designing a Programme to Address Evidence Gaps in Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Flux from UK Peatlands v4.1
19 May 2011