Now showing 1 - 10 of 12
  • Publication
    Optimising Water Quality Returns from Peatland Management while Delivering Co-Benefits for Climate and Biodiversity
    Irish peatlands are of national and international importance. Half of the blanket bogs considered to be of conservation importance in the European Atlantic Biogeographic Region are found on this island, along with some of the last Oceanic raised bog remaining in the EU. Irish peatlands are also a significant carbon store, containing ¾ of the total soil carbon stock in the Republic of Ireland. Healthy peatlands help provide natural filtration processes to clean water and reduce the quantity of water entering rivers and lakes; they help regulate the global climate and mitigate climate change; they support unique flora and fauna; and provide multiple social and cultural services to society.
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  • Publication
    Linking long-term soil phosphorus management to microbial communities involved in nitrogen reactions
    The influence of soil phosphorous (P) content on the N-cycling communities and subsequent effects on N2O emissions remains unclear. Two laboratory incubation experiments were conducted on soils collected from a long-term (est. 1995) P-addition field trial sampled in summer 2018 and winter 2019. Incubations were treated with a typical field amendment rate of N as well as a C-amendment to stimulate microbial activity. Throughout both incubations, soil subsamples were collected prior to fertiliser amendment and then throughout the incubations, to quantify the abundance of bacteria (16S rRNA), fungi (ITS) and Thaumarcheota (16S rRNA) as well as functional guilds of genes involved in nitrification (bacterial and archaeal amoA, and comammox) and denitrification (nirS, nirK, nosZ clade I and II) using quantitative PCR (qPCR). We also evaluated the correlations between each gene abundance and the associated N2O emissions depending on P-treatments. Our results show that long-term P-application influenced N-cycling genes abundance differently. Except for comammox, overall nitrifiers’ genes were most abundant in low P while the opposite trend was found for denitrifiers’ genes. C and N-amendments strongly influenced the abundance of most genes with changes observed as soon as 24 h after application. ITS was the only gene correlated to N2O emissions in the low P-soils while microbes were mostly correlated to emissions in high P, suggesting possible changes in the organisms involved in N2O production depending on soil P-content. This study highlights the importance of long-term P addition on shaping the microbial community function which in turn stimulates a direct impact on the subsequent N emissions.
    Scopus© Citations 3  162
  • Publication
    Assessing the impact of long-term soil phosphorus on N-transformation pathways using 15N tracing
    A laboratory incubation study was conducted on a temperate grassland soil to quantify the main mineral nitrogen (N) transformation rates and pathways via a15N tracing approach. Soil samples were taken from a long-term phosphorus (P) trial to investigate the effects on gross N-transformations under high and low phosphorus amendment. The soils were incubated over a 2-week period and treated with ammonium-nitrate (NH4NO3) which was applied to the soil both with and without a glucose amendment and labelled with 15N either on the ammonium (NH4+) or nitrate (NO3−) moiety at 50% atom enrichment. The results showed immobilisation to greatly outweigh mineralisation and that NO3− was predominantly produced via heterotrophic nitrification. Individual pathways for NO3− production were quantified including oxidation of NH4+, recalcitrant and labile organic N. Oxidation of labile organic N to NO3−, a newly considered pathway, accounted for between 63 and 83% of total NO3− production across the various treatments and P levels. This process was significantly higher in the low-P rather than the high-P soils (p < 0.05), highlighting the effect of soil P on the microbial community.
    Scopus© Citations 18  304
  • Publication
    Impacts of a mature forestry plantation on blanket peatland runoff regime and water quality
    A lack of information concerning the hydrology and hydrogeology of intact blanket bogs limits current understanding of how their alteration to mature forestry plantations impacts stream flow and associated water quality. An integrated hydrological/hydrogeological monitoring programme compared processes operating in a relatively intact blanket peat-covered catchment with conditions encountered in an adjacent area under closed canopy plantation forestry. Groundwater monitoring revealed contrasting water level regimes and deeper summer water tables in the afforested area, with forest groundwater also having more elevated specific electrical conductance (SEC) and containing higher concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Near-simultaneous pairwise runoff sampling at the relatively intact catchment and afforested catchment outlets demonstrated no significant difference in DOC concentration. Conversely, water samples from the afforested catchment outlet displayed significantly greater SEC; this arose in part because of higher concentrations of dissolved calcium and magnesium, discharging via artificial drainage. Comparison of base flow runoff SEC with peat groundwater samples reflected in significant contrasts in ionic signature and greater levels of mineralisation in surface water, pointing to contributions of deeper water, derived from inorganic substrate materials. Study findings indicate that disturbance to the ground in that part of the catchment under plantation forestry has led to greater variations in stream flow and water quality for aquatic ecosystems. Comparable conditions have been observed instreams flowing through plantation forestry in similar physical settings elsewhere. Study findings suggest that plantations on deep peat can adversely affect stream ecosystems and this may impact on a water body's legal status.
    Scopus© Citations 4  111
  • Publication
    Optimising soil P levels reduces N2O emissions in grazing systems under different N fertilisation
    The effect of long-term soil phosphorus (P) on in situ nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from temperate grassland soil ecosystems is not well understood. Grasslands typically receive large nitrogen (N) inputs both from animal deposition and fertiliser application, with a large proportion of this N being lost to the environment. Understanding optimum nutrient stoichiometry by applying N fertilisers in a relative balance with P will help to reduce N losses by enabling maximum N-uptake by plants and microbes. This study investigates the N2O response from soils of long-term high and low P management receiving three forms of applied N at two different rates: a nitrate-based fertiliser (KNO3) and an ammonium-based fertiliser ([NH4]2SO4) (both at 40 Kg N ha−1), and a synthetic urine (750 Kg N ha−1). Low soil P significantly increased N2O emissions from KNO3 and (NH4)2SO4 fertilisers by over 50% and numerically increased N2O from urine by over 20%, which is suggested to be representative of the lack of significant effect of N fertilisation on N-uptake observed in the low P soils. There was a significant positive effect of soil P on grass N-uptake observed in the synthetic urine and KNO3 treatments, but not in the (NH4)2SO4 treatment. Low P soils had a significantly lower pH than high P soilss and responded differently to applied synthetic urine. There was also a significant effect of P level on potential nitrification which was nearly three times that of low P, but no significant difference between potential denitrification and P level. The results from this study highlight the importance of synergy between relative nutrient applications as a deficiency of one nutrient, such as P in this case, could be detrimental to the system as a whole. Optimising soil P can result in greater N uptake (over 12, 23 and 66% in (NH4)2SO4, KNO3 and synthetic urine treatments, respectively) and in reduced emissions by up to 50% representing a win-win scenario for farmers.
      104Scopus© Citations 1
  • Publication
    Rewetting degraded peatlands for climate and biodiversity benefits: Results from two raised bogs
    Globally, peatlands are under threat from a range of land use related factors that have a significant impact on the provision of ecosystem services, such as biodiversity and carbon (C) sequestration/storage. In Ireland, approximately 84% of raised bogs (a priority habitat listed in Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive) have been affected by peat extraction. While restoration implies the return of ecosystem services that were characteristic of the pre-disturbed ecosystem, achieving this goal is often a challenge in degraded peatlands as post-drainage conditions vary considerably between sites. Here, we present multi-year greenhouse gas (GHG) and vegetation dynamics data from two former raised bogs in Ireland that were drained and either industrially extracted (milled) or cut on the margins for domestic use and subsequently rewetted (with no further management). When upscaled to the ecosystem level, the rewetted nutrient poor domestic cutover peatland was a net sink of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) (−49 ± 66 g C m −2 yr −1 ) and a source of methane (CH 4 ) (19.7 ± 5 g C m −2 yr −1 ), while the nutrient rich industrial cutaway was a net source of CO 2 (0.66 ± 168 g C m −2 yr −1 ) and CH 4 (5.0 ± 2.2 g C m −2 yr −1 ). The rewetted domestic cutover site exhibited the expected range of micro-habitats and species composition found in natural (non-degraded) counterparts. In contrast, despite successful rewetting, the industrially extracted peatland did not exhibit typical raised bog flora. This study demonstrated that environmental and management variables can influence species composition and, therefore, the regeneration of species typical of natural sites, and has highlighted the climate benefits from rewetting degraded peatlands in terms of reduced GHG emissions. However, rewetting of degraded peatlands is a major challenge and in some cases reintroduction of bryophytes typical of natural raised bogs may be more difficult than the achievement of proper GHG emission savings.
      634Scopus© Citations 75
  • Publication
    Carbon and climate implications of rewetting a raised bog in Ireland
    Peatland rewetting has been proposed as a vital climate change mitigation tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to generate suitable conditions for the return of carbon (C) sequestration. In this study, we present annual C balances for a 5-year period at a rewetted peatland in Ireland (rewetted at the start of the study) and compare the results with an adjacent drained area (represents business-as-usual). Hydrological modelling of the 230-hectare site was carried out to determine the likely ecotopes (vegetation communities) that will develop post-rewetting and was used to inform a radiative forcing modelling exercise to determine the climate impacts of rewetting this peatland under five high-priority scenarios (SSP1-1.9, SS1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5). The drained area (marginal ecotope) was a net C source throughout the study and emitted 157 ± 25.5 g C m−2 year−1. In contrast, the rewetted area (sub-central ecotope) was a net C sink of 78.0 ± 37.6 g C m−2 year−1, despite relatively large annual methane emissions post-rewetting (average 19.3 ± 5.2 g C m−2 year−1). Hydrological modelling predicted the development of three key ecotopes at the site, with the sub-central ecotope predicted to cover 24% of the site, the sub-marginal predicted to cover 59% and the marginal predicted to cover 16%. Using these areal estimates, our radiative forcing modelling projects that under the SSP1-1.9 scenario, the site will have a warming effect on the climate until 2085 but will then have a strong cooling impact. In contrast, our modelling exercise shows that the site will never have a cooling impact under the SSP5-8.5 scenario. Our results confirm the importance of rapid rewetting of drained peatland sites to (a) achieve strong C emissions reductions, (b) establish optimal conditions for C sequestration and (c) set the site on a climate cooling trajectory.
      248Scopus© Citations 12
  • Publication
    Insights into CO2 simulations from the Irish Blackwater peatland using ECOSSE model
    Non-degraded peatlands are known to be important carbon sink; however, if they are exposed to anthropogenic changes they can act as carbon source. This study forms a part of the larger AUGER project (http://www.ucd.ie/auger). It uses the ECOSSE process-based model to predict CO2 emissions [heterotrophic respiration (Rh)] associated with different peatland management (Smith et al., 2010). The work aims to provide preliminary insights into CO2 modelling procedures for drained and rewetted sites from Blackwater, the former Irish raised bog. After drainage in 1950’s (due to peat-extraction) and cessation of draining in 1999, the landscape developed drained ‘Bare Peat’ (BP), and rewetted ‘Reeds’ (R) and ‘Sedges’ (S) sites (Renou-Wilson et al., 2019). Modelling of CO2 from these sites was done using ECOSSE-v.6.2b model (‘site-specific’ mode) with water-table (WT) module (Smith et al., 2010), and default peatland vegetation parameters. The other model-input parameters (including soil respiration, WT and other soil parameters) were obtained from measurements reported in Renou-Wilson et al. (2019). Simulations on drained BP site were run starting from 1950 and on rewetted R and S sites starting from 1999 (which is the year of cessation of drainage). The climate data inputs (2010-2017) were obtained from ICHEC (EPA_Climate-WRF, 2019). The long-term average climate data for model spin-up were obtained from Met Éireann (2012) with potential evapotranspiration estimated by Thornthwaite (1948) method. Daily ecosystem respiration (Reco) data for May/June 2011 to Aug 2011 obtained from raw CO2 flux measurements (Renou-Wilson et al., 2019) were used. For vegetated sites Rh was estimated from Reco using method explained in Abdalla et al. (2014). Daily CO2 simulations were compared to Reco for BP site (r2 =0.20) and to Rh for R site (r2 = 0.35) and S site (r2 = 0.55). The preliminary results showed some underestimation of simulated CO2 indicating the need for further modelling refinements for satisfactory results. The results from BP site further indicated on the importance of including long-term drainage period (i.e. from 1950 on) because avoiding this step resulted in a large overestimation of predicted CO2.
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  • Publication
    The bogs of Ireland: an introduction to the natural, cultural and industrial heritage of Irish peatlands
    (University College Dublin. Environmental Institute, 2008) ; ; ;
    The bogs were the last wilderness to take shape in the Irish landscape in the wake of the Ice Age. As they expanded, they forced back the tide of farming, and then kept the fields at bay along their inhospitable frontiers. During the first farming millennia little could be done to reclaim these barren, wet deserts and replace them with friendly fields as had been done with most of the forest wilderness. Only rarely were the bogs resorted to – to bury butter, to take a short cut, to hide the bodies of the murdered. This outlook on the bog changed for two related reasons. One was the disappearance of woodland, and the increasing scarcity of wood as a domestic fuel; the second was the increasing population. Since the publication of The Bogs of Ireland in 1996, research on Irish peatlands has been concentrated on two main areas: carbon sequestration and a re-evaluation of the prospects for afforestation of the cutaway. Apart from some minor corrections, the text of this digital version is essentially that of the original printed edition of 1996, with the exception of Chapters 5, 7 and 16, which have been expanded and rewritten to take account of recent and ongoing research and developments in these two areas.
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  • Publication
    Peatland Properties Influencing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removal
    A nationwide peatland survey was conducted across 50 ombrotrophic peatlands (bogs) in Ireland to ascertain a wide range of peat properties. In addition to natural (relatively intact) sites, we surveyed the most prevalent peatland land use categories (LUCs): grassland, forestry and peat extraction (both industrial and domestic), as well as management options (deep drained; shallow drained; rewetting). Furthermore, the entirety of the peat profile (down to the sub-peat mineral soil/bedrock) was sampled. Our results demonstrate that Irish bogs have been drastically altered by human activities and that the sampled peat properties reflect the nature and magnitude of the impact of the land use and management.
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