Hydrology of Drained Forested Wetlands

Vompersky, Stanislav E.; Shin, Andrej A.

doi:10.1201/9780203745380-14

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Peatland drainage for forestry, which impacts approximately 15 million hectares of peatlands globally (Paavilainen and Päivänen ), alters the hydrological regime, increases the aeration of peat, and redirects the development toward forest succession (Laine et al. ; Vompersky and Sirin ; Mälson et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Peatland drainage for forestry, which impacts approximately 15 million hectares of peatlands globally (Paavilainen and P€ aiv€ anen 1995), alters the hydrological regime, increases the aeration of peat, and redirects the development toward forest succession (Laine et al 1995;Vompersky and Sirin 1997;M€ alson et al 2008). The landscape diversity decreases due to the replacement of peatland plant species by species common in the surrounding forests (Vasander 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vegetation structure and photosynthesis respond rapidly to restoration in young coastal fens

Laine

Tolvanen

Mehtätalo

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Young coastal fens are rare ecosystems in the first stages of peatland succession. Their drainage compromises their successional development toward future carbon (C) reservoirs. We present the first study on the success of hydrological restoration of young fens. We carried out vegetation surveys at six young fens that represent undrained, drained, and restored management categories in the Finnish land uplift coast before and after restoration. We measured plant level carbon dioxide (CO2) assimilation and chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) from 17 most common plant species present at the sites. Within 5 years of restoration, the vegetation composition of restored sites had started to move toward the undrained baseline. The cover of sedges increased the most in response to restoration, while the cover of deciduous shrubs decreased the most. The rapid response indicates high resilience and low resistance of young fen ecosystems toward changes in hydrology. Forbs had higher photosynthetic and respiration rates than sedges, deciduous shrubs, and grasses, whereas rates were lowest for evergreen shrubs and mosses. The impact of management category on CO2 assimilation was an indirect consequence that occurred through changes in plant species composition: Increase in sedge cover following restoration also increased the potential photosynthetic capacity of the ecosystem. Synthesis and applications. Restoration of forestry drained young fens is a promising method for safeguarding them and bringing back their function as C reservoirs. However, their low resistance to water table draw down introduces a risk that regeneration may be partially hindered by the heavy drainage in the surrounding landscape. Therefore, restoration success is best safeguarded by managing the whole catchments instead of carrying out small‐scale projects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation structure and photosynthesis respond rapidly to restoration in young coastal fens

Laine

Tolvanen

Mehtätalo

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Various authors have proposed target GWDs and ranges when draining various soil types and geographical locations during growing seasons to avoid limiting tree growth. In their synthesis, Vompersky and Sirin (1997) suggest that GWD should ideally range from 30 to 50 cm in poorly decomposed Sphagnum peat, and from 50 to 70 cm in highly decomposed peat. In another synthesis, Paavilainen and Päivänen (1995) recommend GWDs ranging from at least 35 cm in ombrotrophic, undecomposed peat to > 55 cm in well-decomposed, minerotrophic peat.…”

Section: Ditching Aims and Drainage Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several authors recommend drainage to maintain the GWL at 20-50 cm between adjacent ditches (Rothwell et al 1996;Tóth and Gillard 1988;Berry and Jeglum 1991). According to Vompersky and Sirin (1997), Buss and Zalitis (1968) state that the optimal GWD for maximizing growth of pine stands in Latvia on drained peatland is 40 cm, and the soil should not be flooded for at least 30-40% of the growing season. Vompersky and Sirin (1997) also note that Vompersky et al (1975) concluded that growth of pine in peatlands in northwestern Russia is maximal when the uppermost soil layer is not flooded for at least 85% of the growing season.…”

Section: Ditching Aims and Drainage Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Vompersky and Sirin (1997), Buss and Zalitis (1968) state that the optimal GWD for maximizing growth of pine stands in Latvia on drained peatland is 40 cm, and the soil should not be flooded for at least 30-40% of the growing season. Vompersky and Sirin (1997) also note that Vompersky et al (1975) concluded that growth of pine in peatlands in northwestern Russia is maximal when the uppermost soil layer is not flooded for at least 85% of the growing season. Similarly, Toth and Gillard (1988) concluded that drained areas should not be flooded for more than 14 consecutive days.…”

Section: Ditching Aims and Drainage Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interactions between soil water conditions and forest stands in boreal forests with implications for ditch network maintenance

Sikström¹,

Hökkä²

2016

Silva Fenn.

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Interactions between soil water conditions and forest stands in boreal forests with implications for ditch network maintenanceSikström U., Hökkä H. (2016). Interactions between soil water conditions and forest stands in boreal forests with implications for ditch network maintenance. Silva Fennica vol. 50 no. 1 article id 1416. 29 p. Highlights• Ditch network maintenance (DNM) may influence soil water conditions less than initial ditching due to reduced hydraulic conductivity of the peat. • Stand stocking and management substantially influence soil-water conditions. • DNM can lower the GWL and increase tree growth.• DNM growth responses of 0.5-1.8 m 3 ha -1 yr -1 during 15-20-years in Scots pine peatland stands reported. • Greatest need for DNM in the early phase of a stand rotation.• Need for better understanding of the link between soil water and tree growth. AbstractAt sites with either peat or mineral soils in large areas of boreal forests, high soil-water contents hamper tree growth and drainage can significantly increase growth. Hence, areas covering about 15 × 10 6 ha of northern peatlands and wet mineral soils have been drained for forestry purposes. Usually ditches gradually deteriorate, thus reducing their functionality as drains, and ditch-network maintenance (DNM) might be needed to maintain stand growth rates enabled by the original ditching. This article reviews current knowledge on establishing the need for DNM in boreal forest stands, subsequent growth responses, and the financial outcome of the activity. The issues covered in the review are: (i) ditching, changes in ditches over time and the need for DNM; (ii) interactions between soil water and both stand properties and stand management; (iii) ground-water level (GWL) and tree growth responses to DNM; and (iv) financial viability of DNM. Conclusions about the current understanding of issues related to DNM are drawn and implications for DNM in practice are summarized. Finally, gaps in knowledge are identified and research needs are suggested.

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Distributed hydrological modeling with channel network flow of a forestry drained peatland site

Haahti

Warsta

Kokkonen

et al. 2016

Water Resources Research

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Peatland drainage has been an important component of forestry management in the boreal zone and the resulting ditch networks are maintained regularly to sustain forest productivity. In Finland, this is recognized as the most detrimental forestry practice increasing diffuse loads of suspended solids. Alongside forestry management on peatlands, interest in peatland restoration has grown lately. Distributed hydrological modeling has the potential to address these matters by recognizing relevant physical mechanisms and identifying most suitable strategies for mitigating undesired outcomes. This study investigates the utility of such a modeling approach in a drained peatland forest environment. To provide a suitable tool for this purpose, we coupled channel network flow to the three-dimensional distributed hydrological model FLUSH. The resulting model was applied to a 5.2 ha drained peatland forest catchment in Eastern Finland. The model was calibrated and validated using field measurements obtained over frost-free periods of five months. The application showed that distributed modeling can disentangle the importance of spatial factors on local soil moisture conditions, which is significant as peatland drainage aims to control these conditions. In our application, we limited the spatial aspect to the topography and the drainage network, and found that the drainage configuration had a clear effect on the spatial soil moisture patterns but that the effect was less pronounced during the wetter summer. Future applications of distributed modeling in this field comprises investigating the impacts of other spatial factors, modeling channel erosion and solid transport to address strategies for their mitigation, and evaluating restoration schemes.

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Hydrology of Drained Forested Wetlands

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Vegetation structure and photosynthesis respond rapidly to restoration in young coastal fens

Vegetation structure and photosynthesis respond rapidly to restoration in young coastal fens

Interactions between soil water conditions and forest stands in boreal forests with implications for ditch network maintenance

Distributed hydrological modeling with channel network flow of a forestry drained peatland site

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