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Management of the margins in cutover bogs: ecological conditions and effects of afforestation

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Abstract

Several studies contributed to the development of restoration techniques for open Sphagnum-dominated habitats on peat-extracted bogs. Yet, in exception to some afforestation efforts, connectivity between restored sites and surrounding landscapes has received little attention. The general goal of this study is to ameliorate management of very shallow peat fields (<30 cm) located within the margins of peat-extracted bogs. Firstly, to assist decision making in peatland management, baseline ecological conditions, peat physicochemistry and spontaneous vegetation recolonization were assessed for 18 of these fields. This first study revealed that (1) concentrations of several macro-nutrients are almost one order of magnitude lower for unrestored fields than previously characterized natural lagg habitats of the same region, and (2) there is little spontaneous colonization. In a second study, peat chemistry and soil/air microclimate were evaluated in plantations established on shallow residual peat (a 21-year-old Larix laricina plantation and an 18-year-old Picea mariana plantation) and compared to adjacent unrestored shallow bare-peat fields. This second study showed that afforested peat fields are characterized by (1) a soil enriched in nutrients, notably in N, P, and K, and (2) a more humid and cooler microclimate at the soil/air interface, with less daily humidity and temperature fluctuations. These results indicate that afforestation is an appropriate approach to start an ecological recovery. Yet, the absence of natural recolonization by herbs and mosses in the understory of afforested peat fields suggests that reintroduction of appropriate understory species should also be considered if the goal is to restore a fully functional ecosystem.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support for this research was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy of New Brunswick, and the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association and its members. Personal grants to Étienne Paradis were provided by the Fonds québécois de recherches sur la nature et les technologies and Institut Hydro-Québec en Environnement, Développement et Société. We are particularly grateful to Phan Cat Tuong Le and Catherine Emond for assistance in the field. We also thank members of the Peatlands Ecology Research Group and two anonymous reviewers for comments on the study and on earlier versions of this manuscript.

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  1. Line Rochefort

    Present address: Département de Phytologie, Centre d’études Nordiques, Pavillon Paul-Comtois, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l’Agriculture, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

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  1. Département de Phytologie, Centre d’études Nordiques, Pavillon Paul-Comtois, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l’Agriculture, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

    Étienne Paradis

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Paradis, É., Rochefort, L. Management of the margins in cutover bogs: ecological conditions and effects of afforestation. Wetlands Ecol Manage 25, 177–190 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-016-9508-9

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