Repeat researchers on an inspection in Forsinard Flows, northern Scotland. Here, some of the world’s finest blanket bogs can be found. However, large areas have also been damaged through drainage and tree planting. For several decades, bog restoration has been ongoing, and we are analyzing data from this area to understand if the restoration is progressing as desired and how quickly it is happening.
Nickolai Birkeland
Adviser
Division of Research, Internationalisation and Innovation

Peatland Restoration – Imagine How Long it Takes

In the fourth work package, we have focused on peatland restoration, with particular emphasis on species composition and time-to-restoration. This is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of various measures at an early stage.

In the fourth work package, we have studied peatland restoration. We are investigating whether the species composition of plants can be restored and how quickly it happens (time-to-restoration). Our preliminary analyses show that restoring blanket bogs in Scotland (which were planted with trees) takes 50–300 years, depending on the strictness of the goals we use. Water conditions were quickly restored, while the restoration of the peat itself was much slower. This makes it difficult for the original species to return. For Rønnåsmyra, a raised bog in southeastern Norway, vegetation is expected to be restored within 50–120 years, depending on how we define the restoration goal. Estimating time-to-restoration is valuable as it allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of various restoration measures at an early stage, and thus predict the development of the restoration long before it is completed.

Picture4.jpgRepeat fellow Katinka Vloon has spent countless hours at Rønnåsmyra in Grue Municipality, collecting data to analyze how long peatland restoration actually takes.