Methane emissions from a peatland following restoration

Peatland drainage and peat extraction changes natural peatlands from a net carbon sink to that of a large net source due to increased respiration and the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) fixing vegetation. Restoration of these altered peatland ecosystems is being applied to reduce these carbon emissions. As peatland restoration is a new and emerging land‐use management practice, the purpose of this research was to examine the impact of restoration on the methane (CH4) component of the carbon cycle at the Bois‐des‐Bel peatland located near Rivière‐du‐Loup, Québec from early May to mid October for several years. The seasonal CH4 fluxes prior to restoration at an extracted (cutover) and a restored peatland were not significantly different from each other or zero. However, three years postrestoration the seasonal CH4 emissions at the restored site were 4.2 g m−2 CH4 season−1, 4.6 times greater than the cutover site. Ponds and ditches at the restored site were seasonal CH4 emission hot spots (0.3 and 2.9 g m−2 CH4 season−1, respectively); however, emissions from herbaceous vegetation (1.0 g m−2 CH4 season−1) were the dominant source of CH4 from the restored peatland due to its large areal extent. CH4 fluxes from the Bois‐des‐Bel peatland represented 14% of the total CO2‐equivalent losses from the site. This study demonstrates the importance of vegetation succession on peatland‐atmosphere flux of CH4.