Transplanting success of two alpine plant species in combination with mulching during restoration of a high-elevation peatland

• Published in: Wetlands Ecology and Management
• Main Authors: Isselin-Nondedeu, Francis, Gaucherand, Stéphanie
• Other Authors: Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés (CITERES), Université de Tours (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale (IMBE), Avignon Université (AU)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UMR237-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des EcoSystèmes et des Sociétés en Montagne (UR LESSEM), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: Peatland restoration; Alpine; Trichophorum cespitosum; Rehabilitation; Eriophorum scheuchzeri; Ski resort; Bog; [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02962359; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-019-09695-y

International audience Many high-elevation wetlands have been degraded by activities related to the skiing industry. However, few studies exist on their restoration in this harsh environment. From 2010 to 2017, we set up an experiment on a degraded bog located at 2500 m within the ski resort of Val-Thorens (France). We tested (1) if transplanting two sedge species, Trichophorum cespitosum and Eriophorum scheuchzeri effectively helped to initiate the restoration of the bog vegetation and (2) if different planting combinations of the species under different mulch treatments affected transplant survival and cover. After stabilising the bare peat with wood fascines and installed weirs in the incised gully that drained the bog, we planted tussocks of T. cespitosum and ramets of E. scheuchzeri, each alone or in mixture. We used straw mulch or a "biomulch" made of live shoots of Polytrichum moss. After a slight increase the first 2 years, the number of E. scheuchzeri ramets decreased continuously in all treatments and reached zero in 2016. T. cespitosum had a low mortality in all treatments; its annual survival rate and cover were significantly higher with biomulch. Because of strong winds and snow action, all the straw was removed after 2 years while the biomulch cover remained between 10 and 25% from the third to the fifth year then was close to zero from 2016. Nevertheless, this low cover seemed sufficient to favour the survival and growth of T. cespitosum. In 2017, bare soil was lower in all treatments with biomulch and T. cespitosum. This treatment appears to be the best restoration option, but it is likely that more than 7 to 10 years will be required to establish adequate plant cover at degraded high-elevation sites.