Using palaeoecology to support blanket peatland management

Peatlands cover 3% of the world's surface but store up to 30% of soil carbon, which is more organic carbon than any other terrestrial store (Parish et al., 2008). In the UK, blanket peatlands constitute the greatest terrestrial carbon reserves (Cannell et al., 1999) and represent up to 10-15% of all blanket peatlands worldwide. Degradation of these sites via numerous causes such as pollution, overgrazing, artificial drainage and burning (Holden, 2007) and a subsequent recognition of their importance in terms of carbon storage, provision of potable water, possible flood management and as areas for wildlife conservation have led to extensive attempts to implement restoration schemes.

Although widespread in the UK, restoration schemes are rarely carried out with consideration of the location's previous history of peatland development. Restoration implies a return to some previous, more pristine state, but knowing whether such a goal has been achieved is not possible if that original, pristine state is not known. Palaeoecological techniques can help us to understand how peatland ecosystems have changed over thousands of years, including their vegetation and surface-wetness histories. They provide a means to contextualise the present state of the peatland so that restoration can be tailored around site-specific evidence of what a "natural" peatland should look like (Chambers et al. 1999, Chambers & Daniell 2011). However, evidence from palaeoecological analyses is rarely requested or utilised by practitioners. By cooperating closely with restoration agencies, the benefits of palaeoecological work to guide restoration plans will be highlighted. This site-specific approach can provide restoration goals that are more appropriate and achievable. For example, Sphagnum planting is a standard practice when restoration occurs but there is evidence that - although an important peat-building constituent - UK blanket bogs can be relatively devoid of Sphagnum (Blundell and Holden, 2015).
It is envisaged that the study could follow a two-tier approach involving i) in-field analyses and ii) laboratory-based microscope work. The former providing peat depths, evidence of Sphagnum and charcoal, would supply a spatial perspective whereas the latter via master core could be analysed for pollen, charcoal, macrofossils, testate amoebae and humification allowing point specific but highly detailed reconstruction of the site's vegetation and hydrological development and human induced change. This work will seek to highlight and contrast the substantial influence of humans on these blanket peatland sites over the last few centuries so the atypical nature of the present state can be established. Robust chronologies would be sought via AMS radiocarbon dating but the candidate could explore other complementary techniques.
Although a primary aim of the project will be to inform blanket peatland management, other benefits include reconstruction of regional climate and environmental change (Blundell et al., 2018). Stratigraphic analyses and peat depths would also permit detailed site-specific estimates of carbon storage. This project would disseminate findings to partners and hope to influence restoration practice for the better.