CLAD: Carbon Landscapes And Drainage

This project aims to improve understanding and management of parts of the U.K. which store significant amounts of carbon, peatlands. Peat contains about 45-60% of its weight as carbon. UK peatlands contain about as much carbon as is produced by fossil fuel burning in the UK for the next 35 years at current rates. Carbon is stored in peat in the remains of plants which do not fully decompose, but some is lost in a variety of ways including as carbon dioxide and methane gas. A significant proportion of carbon is also lost as dissolved organic carbon, which is flushed into streams and rivers giving peaty water its distinctive brown colour. Eroding peat can be lost to the rivers are particulate matter. Both dissolved and particulate carbon can be broken down in the water and released as carbon dioxide, meaning that these water bodies can be significant sources of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. It is known that human disturbance to peatlands e.g. clear felling of forestry, can significantly increase the rate at which carbon is lost to the rivers. Currently peatlands in the UK are managed for aesthetic, recreational, and commercial activities e.g. the isolated and windy environment found in many peatland areas offers a suitable location for windfarm developments. This type of development is probably the most important, large-scale, human disturbance to peatlands in recent history. Although in the longer terms, this loss is offset by the carbon dioxide saved in non-fossil fuel energy generation, in the short term digging the holes needed to place the turbines, building access roads and the clearance of forestry can all lead to increases in the amounts of carbon lost to drainage systems. Whether these losses to drainage systems are environmentally acceptable or not is not currently a consideration of those responsible for approving and overseeing the development. Given their importance as 'carbon landscapes', it is surprising that peatlands are not managed for one of their most important functions, carbon storage. We expect this, and the need to defined an ecologically acceptable carbon flow, to change in the coming years and legislation to be passed which will require this to be included in management plans and the environmental impact assessments required for developments on peatlands. One way in which it is easy to assess loss of carbon from peatlands is by monitoring export of dissolved and particulate carbon in the peatland drainage systems. Researchers know quite a lot about how carbon is lost from peatlands to rivers, and the PIs of this bid, know quite a lot about how windfarms impact on catchment drainage. But this information has not yet been synthesised for those with a responsibility for peatlands. We propose to change this through setting up on a knowledge exchange network, using as a learning vehicle, consideration of the impact of windfarm disturbance on carbon landscapes, particularly drainage systems. We will set up a network of stakeholders with interests in peatland management, research and development. This will allow the exchange of knowledge between academics on the cutting edge of research into carbon losses from peatlands and managers and developers concerned with the day-to-day activities pursued within them. We will run workshops to demonstrate and teach the latest techniques for monitoring carbon losses from peatlands via aquatic pathways. We will offer t for secondment, allowing responsive interaction with professionals concerned with carbon management in carbon landscapes and drainage systems. We will harness collective network knowledge to produce a set of guidelines concerning the management of peatlands on drainage systems. This project will be a significant step towards arming professional managers and researchers with the up-to-date understanding, techniques and tools needed to manage the peatland carbon cycle according to current best practise.