Recherche en cours, dans le cadre du programme européen RECIPE (2002-2006) :

RECONCILING COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION OF PEAT WITH BIODIVERSITY IN PEATLAND ECOSYSTEMS
RECIPE is designed to provide information to assist conservationists and managers of peat extraction with options to restore peat accumulation and carbon (C)sequestration in peatland that has either been abandoned or designated for restoration. The objectives will identify combinations of water table, vegetation, microbiology and chemistry favorable to the reestablishment of peatland biodiversity and long term regeneration. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the relationship between the development of microbial diversity and the processes governing C cycling. By achieving these objectives in the context of current management practices, RECIPE will provide guidelines for sustainable management that will reconcile peat use with the maintenance of biodiversity. The technological output from the project will be transferred to end users in the form of workshops, published papers, web-based information and printed guidelines.

Objectives
1. relate the biological and chemical processes associated with C turnover to the physical, nutrient and hydrological conditions in cut-over peatland
2. determine relationships between the microbial community structure in peat and the activity of microbial processes driving C loss
3. relate microbial community to effectiveness of plant establishment
4. determine impact of different plant species on C sequestration
5. develop indicators of change in physical, chemical and biological
characteristics of peat
6. develop guidelines for sustainable management of peatlands
7. quantify current and future requirements for sustainable peatland management in the EC, recognizing its value within the rural economy.

Description of the work
Experimental work will consist of microbiological, chemical and physical studies of cut-over (extracted or degraded) peatland that is being re-vegetated. This will consist of both a survey of existing areas and controlled experimental plots seeded with peat-forming vegetation. Rates of C sequestration by the vegetation will be determined and compared with C turnover in litter and the underlying peat. Both microbial communities and processes associated with C sequestration in peat will be identified using innovative microbiological and molecular techniques. Optimal conditions for regeneration of peatland after extraction, viz., water table level, peat thickness and peat chemistry, will be established in consultation with peatland managers. The options available to them for managing peat extraction and restoration will be reviewed. The work is distributed between seven work packages. The first (WP 01) involves consultation with and feedback from both commercial and conservation bodies, i.e. the beneficiaries of the research, who will form an end users focus group. Sites that have been abandoned or recently used for peat extraction will be used for experimental studies involving re-vegetation and measures of photosynthesis and biomass accumulation (WP 02). The genetic biodiversity of the microbial ’loop’(decomposer community) will be studied in these sites (WP 03) together with characterization of the functional diversity of the bacterial communities (WP 04). The relationships between these microbial communities and organic matter quality (peat chemistry) (WP 05) will be related to rates of C turnover (WP 06) and used to obtain potential indicators of change in peat. These findings will then be integrated and translated into management options, providing concrete guidelines for peatland use and restoration involving sustainable practices that have socio-economic benefits (WP 07).

Participants
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
Soil Quality and Protection
Craigiebuckler
AB15 8QH Aberdeen

University of Franche -Compte
1) Laboratory of Chrono-Ecology, UMR 6565/CNRS
16 Route de Gray
F-25030 Besançon
2) Laboratory of Biology and Ecophysiology
Place LeClerc
F-25030 Besançon

Universite d’Orleans
ISTO
Institut des Sciences de la Terre d’Orleans (UMR 6113)
Universite d’Orleans
Geosciences
F-45067 Orléans 2

University of Helsinki
Department of Forest Ecology
Latokartanonkaari 7
P.O. Box 27
00014
Helsinki FIN Finland

Technische Universitaet Muenchen
TUM-BO
Soil Ecology Unit, Department of Ecology
Am Hochanger 13
D-85354 Freising Germany

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL Antenne romande
c/o EPFL - Lausanne
P.O. Box 96
CH - 1015 Lausanne

LIN’eco, Ph. Grosvernier
Bel Air 37
Case postale 51
CH-2732Reconvilier