Study

Effects of a hydrological protection zone on the restoration of a raised bog: a case study from Northeast-Germany

  • Published source details Bönsel A. & Sonneck A.-G. (2011) Effects of a hydrological protection zone on the restoration of a raised bog: a case study from Northeast-Germany. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 19, 183-194.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Rewet peatland (raise water table)

Action Link
Peatland Conservation
  1. Rewet peatland (raise water table)

    A before-and-after study in 1996–2007 in a historically mined raised bog in Germany (Bönsel & Sonneck 2011) found that following rewetting, there were increases in the number of plant species, moss cover and sedge/rush cover, but decreases in shrub and tree cover. The number of plant species on the bog increased from 157 before rewetting to 208 ten years after. Over the same time period, total moss cover increased from 31 to 44% and Sphagnum moss cover increased from 15 to 25%. Total herb cover did not change significantly over time (67% before and after). However, sedge/rush cover increased from 7–10% to 19–27% (not statistically tested). Shrub cover decreased from 41 to 22%. Tree cover decreased from 31 to 8%. In 1997, a bog was rewetted by blocking drainage ditches in and around it (water table raised to 5–55 cm below the peat surface). Plant species were counted and vegetation cover estimated before (1996) and after (2007) ditch blocking, in 35 permanent 25 m2 plots. This study was based on the same experimental set-up as (17).

    (Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)

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