The impacts of wildfire and afforestation in peatland: a multi-stressor approach to the recovery of peatland's soil biota

This project offers the opportunity to contribute to groundbreaking research aimed at understanding the pressures on peatland ecosystems and their vital role in climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. With nearly 30% of the terrestrial carbon pool stored within their depths, the health of peatlands is crucially important in our fight against the impact of climate change and to regulate water flow and quality. The UK has 20% of the world's blanket peat, mainly in Scotland, but the majority of it is considered degraded and further threatened through increased water and temperature stress, and increased wildfire risk, which undermines its functioning, turning them into net carbon sources. The Scottish Government has committed to restore 250,000 ha of peatland by 2030 under the Climate Change and Peatland Action Plans, with at least 10,000 ha restored to date, through a variety of practices typically including tree removal, and drain blocking. This has created a mosaic of restored, degraded, and natural peatland habitats that is threatened by increasing risk of wildfires, which have already been documented across different peatland states.