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Forest Research home > Research themes > Woodlands & the environment > Climate change mitigation
Climate change mitigation - current research projects
Impact of peat bog restoration on total GHG dynamics(Flanders Moss Experiment) Peat soils play an important role in the balance of greenhouse gases (GHG), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) between soil and the atmosphere. However, the scientific evidence based messages on peatlands and total carbon budget is conflicting because of the contrasting effects of water table/aerobicity conditions on CO2 and CH4 fluxes. It is estimated that British peatlands, excluding lowland fens, contain about 3000 million tonnes of carbon, 76 % of which is stored in deep peats (> 45 cm deep) and 9 per cent of which has been drained and planted with trees (Cannell et al., 1993). Drainage of peatlands, to make way for forestry, impacts on the hydrology of peatlands (lowering water table levels) with knock-on impacts on levels of biological activity and decomposition in peat soils and GHG fluxes. Although peatland conservation and restoration is a high priority under biodiversity obligations and international wildlife law its impact on total GHG and soil carbon budgets has not yet been fully investigated and warrants further investigations. A three year experiment at Flanders Moss, near Aberfoyle, Sterling, in Scotland was put in place in February 2008 to investigate how peat bog restoration (reversal of afforestation measures) affects emissions of the key GHGs, CO2, CH4 and N2O. The experiment also aims to establish relationships between GHG emissions and other environmental factors (e.g. water level and temperature) to aid model development for up-scaling of results. Another important objective (in collaboration with Forest Research’s Ecology Division at our Northern Research Station), is to monitor population and community changes in specialist peat bog flora and fauna during the bog restoration process. The main objectives will be to quantify the GHG balance: - Between drained vs undrained afforested peat bog plots and compare these with undrained peat bog plots, acting as ‘control’ plots
- After clear-felling from drained, felled plots vs drained afforested plots
- After complete blockage of drainage in the area and felling of the entire peatbog area.
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Impact of forest management on total GHG budget (Straits broadleaf experiment) See Straits Flux Station Top of page
Simultaneous measurement of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes above and below the forest canopyMethodologies are being developed to allow for the simultaneous measurement of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes above and below the forest canopy, using both flux chamber (in conjunction with gas chromatography) and micrometeorological eddy-covariance methods (using fast Quantum Cascade Laser Absorption Spectrometry). Top of page
Quantifying and comparing soil GHG fluxes in a range of UK forested plots  Sampling of the GHGs CO2, CH4 and N2O using a closed chamber at the Thetford Scots pine Intensive Forest Monitoring plot in East Anglia (Intensive Forest Monitoring Network) The Intensive Forest Monitoring Network provides a range of closely monitored forest plots occurring across broad environmental gradients. The historical and current datasets generated by this network of plots provides a valuable source of information that can be used as a basis to investigate the interaction between key environmental variables and the GHG emissions of forested ecosystems. The aim of this project is to monitor fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O in different types of forest (Scots pine, Sitka spruce, Oak) where key environmental parameters differ (i.e. forest management practice, climatic conditions, soil type) in order to: - Quantify annual and temporal variations (seasonal, inter-annual) in forest soil GHG fluxes
- Investigate the relationship between GHG fluxes, soil type, soil water chemistry (DOC, Total C and Total N) and climatic (temperature, rainfall) variables. An improved understanding can be used to develop/verify existing empirical models or contribute to process-based models for up-scaling the flux data in broadleaf and conifer managed forests
- Investigate the effect of forest management (e.g. thinning vs continuous cover) on the GHG budget
- Establish a platform for forest soil GHG flux measurements across the UK and for data comparison with other UK and EU-wide habitat monitoring and inventory programmes.
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