Vegetation response to restoration management of a blanket bog damaged by drainage and afforestation

Questions: Does restoration management of a formerly afforested blanket bog lead to the vegetation, and the environmental conditions it indicates, becoming similar to intact bog? Location: A 147-ha blanket bog in Scotland's Flow Country, afforested in the 1980s but undergoing restoration since...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied vegetation science Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 167 - 178
Main Authors: Hancock, Mark H., Klein, Daniela, Andersen, Roxane, Cowie, Neil R.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Malden John Wiley & Sons Ltd 01.04.2018
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects:
Acidity
Adaptive management
Afforestation
Bogs
conifers
drainage
Drainage management
Ellenberg indicator values
Environmental conditions
environmental factors
Ericaceae
Eriophorum
Fertility
Flow Country
Furrows
micro‐topography
Moisture
Monitoring
Morisita‐Horn similarity index
peatland
Plant communities
Principal Response Curves
Restoration
Scotland
slope
Sphagnum
Trajectories
Vegetation
water content
Scotland
ISSN:1402-2001, 1654-109X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Questions: Does restoration management of a formerly afforested blanket bog lead to the vegetation, and the environmental conditions it indicates, becoming similar to intact bog? Location: A 147-ha blanket bog in Scotland's Flow Country, afforested in the 1980s but undergoing restoration since 1998. Methods: Vegetation in the restoration area was surveyed in nine, 1.6–6.4-ha plots, in 1998, 2003 and 2011. Each plot was matched to nearby plots that were either intact bog or remained afforested. Principal Response Curves were used to highlight the main axes of vegetation variation and test whether plant community trajectories in the restoration area differed from intact bog. The following restoration outcomes were assessed: floristic similarity to bog vegetation; and moisture, fertility and acidity, as inferred from vegetation using Ellenberg indicator values. Results: In the 6 years after restoration began, vegetation developed towards bog-like conditions. In the subsequent 8 years, overall vegetation change stalled, and spatial variability increased, reflecting diverging trajectories in wetter and drier parts of the site. Ellenberg's F-values implied significant re-wetting in the restoration area, reaching moisture levels similar to intact bog. Other restoration outcomes progressed in wetter microsites and areas (furrows and flat ground), but stalled in drier locations (plough-ridges and steeper slopes). Conclusions: Overall moisture conditions, as indicated by plants, have recovered. However, restoration progress has stalled in drier areas, where additional management may be needed. Long-term vegetation monitoring has helped clarify barriers to recovery and the management needed to overcome them. The value of such monitoring schemes in guiding restoration should be reflected in their wider implementation, within an adaptive management framework.
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ISSN:1402-2001
1654-109X
DOI:10.1111/avsc.12367