Restoration of peatland by spontaneous revegetation after road construction

• Published in: Applied Vegetation Science
• Main Authors: Johansen, Marte Dalen, Aker, Pernille, Klanderud, Kari, Olsen, Siri Lie, Skrindo, Astrid Brekke
• Other Authors: Hermy, Martin, Norwegian Public Roads Administation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2017
• Subjects: Lofoten; Norway; Northern Norway
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12329; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Favsc.12329; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/avsc.12329

Abstract Questions Spontaneous revegetation from indigenous soil was used as a restoration method for peatlands degraded during road construction in northern Norway. We examined how plant community properties responded to the restoration, and which environmental factors affected the restoration success. Location Restored peatlands along roadsides at E10, mainland connection to the Lofoten islands, northern Norway. Methods The restored area originally consisted of poor to intermediate Sphagnum‐ dominated natural peatlands. Restoration consisted of stripping and stockpiling the topmost (30 cm) peat. The peat was stored for 1–2 yr before redistribution, with no further hydrological management. We conducted first time analyses of plant community properties 8 and 9 yr after restoration. We recorded vegetation and environmental variables in 108 plots distributed between 18 transects running from the road edge over the restored area to the undisturbed peatland. Undisturbed peatland was used as target for successful restoration. We used CCA and ANOVA to test the effect of restoration on species composition and richness. Results The ordination showed that species composition still differed significantly between restored and undisturbed plots, indicating incomplete restoration after 8 and 9 yr. Soil moisture, pH , slope and microtopography were the most important environmental factors for species composition. Polytrichum mosses had a high percentage cover in restored (30%) compared to undisturbed control plots (1%). Linear regression showed that peatland species decreased in abundance with increasing depth of Polytrichum cushions. Conclusion The low soil moisture level in the restored areas is most likely limiting the establishment of Sphagnum mosses, considered as key species of the typical peatland environment. Thus, the restoration method studied here must be improved to increase the soil moisture by raising the water table or reducing drainage. This should be done through reducing storage time of the peat before ...