Reconciling Commercial Exploitation of Peat with Biodiversity in Peatland Ecosystems
Project
Type : EU Project, 5th Framework (2003-2006)
Fund : RECIPE is a collaborative research project funded by the European Union Fifth Framework Programme (programme code: EVK2-2002-00269).
Description :
- Peatland ecosystems possess a uniquebiodiversity, which may be threatened bycommercial exploitation. At the same time,in many areas of central and northernEurope, peat utilization has been, andcontinues to be, a source of a valuableraw commodity and of income for ruralcommunities. The “wise use of mires andpeatlands” recognizes the validity of bothof these viewpoints and seeks ways ofresolving potential conflicts.
- RECIPE aims to provide information toassist both conservationists and managersof peat extraction with options to restorepeat accumulation and C sequestration inpeatlands that have either beenabandoned or designated for restoration.
- The approach is to identifycombinations of water table, vegetation,microbiology and chemistry favourable tothe re-establishment of peatland biodiver-sity and long term regeneration, using bothdescriptive and experimental approaches.
- These studies are made in the contextof current management practices andtaking account both the feasibility and thesocio-economic benefits.
Keywords :
Cutover bogs; Regeneration; Restoration; Biomonitoring; Greenhouse gases; C sequestration; Community ecology; Functional ecology; Secondary succession; Socio-economics; Sustainable management
Participants :
Ph.D. : Andy Siegenthaler
M.Sc. : Emanuela Samaritani
Supervisors :
- Alexandre Buttler
- Edward Mitchell
- Walter Rosselli
Partnerships :
- The Macaulay Institute, UK,
- Universities of Franche-Comté,
- Nancy 1, Orléans, & Rennes 1, F,
- University of Helsinki, FIN
- Technical University of Munich, D
- UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig, D
- University of Neuchâtel
- LIN’eco, Reconvillier, CH
Study sites :
La Chaux d’Abel (CH), Le Russey (F), Baupte (F), Pitsligo (UK), Aitoneva (FIN)