Trajectories of ecosystem change in restored blanket peatlands

Alderson, Danielle; Evans, Martin; Shuttleworth, Emma; Pilkington, Michael; Spencer, Tom; Walker, Jonathan; Allott, T.E.H.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.095

Cited by 30 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In fact, the POC flux is likely to be lower now than during the last 500 years, because of natural revegetation in the area (Crowe et al, 2008). Large investments in artificial revegetation in the wider area have been shown to drive large reductions in POC flux by an order of magnitude (Alderson et al, 2019). Higher POC fluxes during earlier stages of floodplain development would mean that floodplain carbon storage as a proportion of fluvial POC yield estimated here is a maximum amount.…”

Section: Carbon Stock In Contextmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…The total carbon stock for the Ashop and Alport valley floodplains calculated above, divided equally over these years equated to between 6.2-35.8 (best estimate: 17.7) t C yr -1 . Large investments in artificial revegetation in the wider area have been shown to drive large reductions in POC flux by an order of magnitude (Alderson et al, 2019). Therefore, the rate of accumulation per year was between 0.1-0.7-t C km -2 yr -1 .…”

Section: Carbon Stock In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geomorphological controls on fluvial carbon storage in headwater peatlands

Alderson

Evans

Rothwell

et al. 2019

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Geomorphological controls and catchment sediment characteristics control the formation of floodplains and affect their capacity to sequester carbon. Organic carbon stored in floodplains is typically a product of pedogenic development between periods of mineral sediment deposition. However, in organically‐dominated upland catchments with a high sediment load, eroded particulate organics may also be fluvially deposited with potential for storage and/or oxidation. Understanding the redistribution of terrestrial carbon laterally, beyond the bounds of river channels is important, especially in eroding peatland systems where fluvial particulate organic carbon exports are often assumed to be oxidised. Floodplains have the potential to be both carbon cycling hotspots and areas of sequestration. Understanding of the interaction of carbon cycling and the sediment cascade through floodplain systems is limited. This paper examines the formation of highly organic floodplains downstream of heavily eroded peatlands in the Peak District, UK. Reconstruction of the history of the floodplains suggests that they have formed in response to periods of erosion of organic soils upstream. We present a novel approach to calculating a carbon stock within a floodplain, using XRF and radiograph data recorded during Itrax core scanning of sediment cores. This carbon stock is extrapolated to the catchment scale, to assess the importance of these floodplains in the storage and cycling of organic carbon in this area. The carbon stock estimate for the floodplains across the contributing catchments is between 3482‐13460 tonnes, equating on an annualised basis to 0.8‐4.5% of the modern‐day POC flux. Radiocarbon analyses of bulk organic matter in floodplain sediments revealed that a substantial proportion of organic carbon was associated with re‐deposited peat and has been used as a tool for organic matter source determination. The average age of these samples (3010 years BP) is substantially older than Infrared Stimulated Luminesence dating which demonstrated that the floodplains formed between 430 and 1060 years ago. Our data suggest that floodplains are an integral part of eroding peatland systems, acting as both significant stores of aged and eroded organic carbon and as hotspots of carbon turnover. © 2019 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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Section: Carbon Stock In Contextmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Carbon Stock In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphological controls on fluvial carbon storage in headwater peatlands

Alderson

Evans

Rothwell

et al. 2019

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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“…Particulate losses from peatland systems decreased following stabilisation of the peat surface through revegetation irrespective of gully blocking activities (Pilkington et al, 2015), as 225 overland flow velocities are lower on vegetated peat than bare peat (Holden et al, 2008). However, the same study (Pilkington et al, 2015), and a more recent assessment of the effects of revegetation on DOC concentrations (Alderson et al, 2019), found no changes in DOC concentrations following revegetation at the headwater catchment scale.…”

Section: Re-vegetation Of Bare Peat 210mentioning

confidence: 96%

Will UK peatland restoration reduce dissolved organic matter concentrations in upland drinking water supplies?

Williamson

Evans

Spears

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Rising dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations, and associated increases in water colour, have posed a potential problem for the UK water industry since the phenomenon was first reported in the early 1990s. Elevated DOM concentrations in raw water are of particular concern in upland catchments dominated by organic soils where DOM production tends to be highest. In recent years, water companies have considered the capacity for catchment interventions to improve raw water quality at source, relieving the need for costly and complex engineering solutions in treatment works, but there is considerable uncertainty around the effectiveness of these measures. One of the primary evidence gaps is the extent to which catchment management is capable of influencing DOM concentrations at the point of abstraction, field studies rarely extending beyond sub-catchment or stream scale. Our review of the published evidence suggests that catchment management could make a contribution to mitigating recent DOM increases in some circumstances, particularly where plantation forestry has been grown on peat, and where control of nutrients in runoff could reduce in-reservoir DOM production. Evidence for the efficacy of most other measures that target reductions in DOM loading for catchment to reservoir remains insufficient to support wider scale application. Collectively, these measures have the potential to reduce DOM concentrations in drinking water reservoirs but they must be selected on a site-specific basis, where the scale, effect size and duration of the catchment intervention are considered in relation to both the treatment capacity of the works and future projected DOM trends.

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“…Using a conceptual model, ecosystem services provided by the restoration of peatlands, including enhanced water storage, and the potential to slow the flow by ditch blocking, were assessed by Grand-Clement et al (2013). Similarly, Alderson et al (2019) and Shuttleworth et al (2019) found that the restoration of bare peatland led to storm discharge reduction. Alongside the multiple environmental benefits of habitat restoration, the blocking of ditches raised the water table and reduced connectivity as well as increasing base flow, all factors which deliver NFM.…”

Section: Drainage Of Extensively Farmed Uplands and Peatlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mainstreaming natural flood management: A proposed research framework derived from a critical evaluation of current knowledge

Ellis

Anderson

Brazier

2021

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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Natural flood management (NFM), or working with natural processes, is a growing flood risk management method in the UK, Europe and worldwide. However, unlike the current dominant technical flood management, it lacks an established evidence base of flood risk parameters. This lack of evidence base can limit the uptake of NFM as a flood management method. This paper critically evaluates examples of NFM and wider relevant literature in order to identify NFM knowledge gaps and suggest how to overcome these. The UK is used as a microcosm of different environments for diverse examples. The sections include: land cover, land management, landscape interactions and trade-offs, evaluating the wider benefits of NFM and, finally, scaling from plot to catchment. This concludes in a suggested framework for a new approach to NFM research, which encompasses spatial scales, interactions and trade-offs of NFM and consistency of reporting results. Widening the NFM empirical evidence base should be seen as an opportunity for a new approach to flood research through exploring new habitats and new flood resilience methods.

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Trajectories of ecosystem change in restored blanket peatlands

Cited by 30 publications

References 39 publications

Geomorphological controls on fluvial carbon storage in headwater peatlands

Geomorphological controls on fluvial carbon storage in headwater peatlands

Will UK peatland restoration reduce dissolved organic matter concentrations in upland drinking water supplies?

Mainstreaming natural flood management: A proposed research framework derived from a critical evaluation of current knowledge

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