Restoring Damaged Blanket Bog Long-term monitoring of the effects of - - PDF document

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Restoring Damaged Blanket Bog

Long-term monitoring of the effects of restoration

• n hydrology and vegetation at three sites in

England

• S. Ross, G. Hammond, A. Keen, P. Anderson, P. Worrall

Penny Anderson Associates Ltd. Funded by United Utilities

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Introduction

• PAA was commissioned by United Utilities to monitor blanket bog restoration at sites

across England under the Sustainable Catchment Management Programme (SCaMP).

• Restoration aimed to restore and/or improve the hydrological functioning and

vegetation community types on the sites.

• The projects began in 2006/07 and continues today.
• Presentation aims to provide an overview of key results up to 2013/14.

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• SCaMP is an innovative and large scale project designed to:

– Improve catchment quality – Meet nature conservation objectives – Improve raw water quality – Ensure a sustainable future for agricultural tenants

• Key aims are:

– To restore habitats towards target condition – To improve water quality, particularly colour – To reduce run-off rates, sediment load and downstream flooding – To improve carbon retention and reduce carbon loss

Sustainable Catchment Management Programme (SCaMP)

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Sites Assessed

Peak District:

– Goyt Valley – Longdendale

Bowland

– Brennand

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Prior to Restoration

• Areas of

extensive bare peat, significant drainage and gully erosion.

• Effect of grazing

and burning regimes over decades.

• Poor vegetation

condition and loss of peat from the moorland. Our knowledge is your advantage

Restoration Measures

Across 12,300ha blanket bog:

• 85km grips blocked with

peat or plastic dams.

• 470ha eroding bare peat

treated with nurse crop, heather brash, geojute textile.

• Experimental coir roll

installation.

• Grazing and burning

regimes reduced/removed

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Monitoring Approach

• Vegetation

(quadrats within plots).

• Hydrology

(water-table level in peat, stage discharge, rainfall gauge).

• Water quality

(colour as DOC, turbidity as POC).

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Assessment of Restoration Measures

• Grip blocking (peat and plastic dams) – Goyt Valley & Brennand sites.
• Bare peat restoration (lime, seed & fertiliser +/- geojute textile) – North

Longdendale sites.

• Coir roll installation – localised area on North Longdendale.
• In combination with changes to grazing and burning regimes (either

removed or reduced) across all sites.

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Key Results: Grip Blocking

20 40 60 80 100 BB1 BB2 BB3 BB4 BB5 Site Code Sphagnum cover (%) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012

* * * * * * * * * *

Significant increases in Sphagnum cover: Brennand (L) & Goyt (R)

20 40 60 80 100 BB1 BB2 BB3 BB5

Site Code Sphagnum cover (%)

2006 2008 2010 2012

* * * *

• BB1 = no grips
• BB2 – BB5 = grips blocked 2010, peat
• 2007 = baseline
• 2008 = grazing changed, grips not blocked
• 2009 – 2012 = post blocking
• BB1 & BB2 = grips blocked 2006, peat
• BB3 = grips blocked 2010, peat
• BB5 = grips blocked 2006, peat & plastic

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100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1 6 / 1 / 7 2 4 / 1 / 8 3 / 5 / 8 1 1 / 8 / 8 1 9 / 1 1 / 8 2 7 / 2 / 9 7 / 6 / 9 1 5 / 9 / 9 2 4 / 1 2 / 9 3 / 4 / 1 1 2 / 7 / 1 2 / 1 / 1 2 8 / 1 / 1 1 8 / 5 / 1 1 1 6 / 8 / 1 1 2 4 / 1 1 / 1 1 3 / 3 / 1 2 1 1 / 6 / 1 2 1 9 / 9 / 1 2 2 8 / 1 2 / 1 2 7 / 4 / 1 3 1 6 / 7 / 1 3 2 4 / 1 / 1 3 DATE COLOUR (HAZEN) 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

BROWN SYKE RAW WATER COLOUR Monthly Mean

Key Results: Grip Blocking

Small but significant reductions in colour over time – Brennand (below) & Goyt.

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Key Results: Grip Blocking

Trend towards declining raw water turbidity over time at Brennand (below) while Goyt remains +/- stable.

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 04/06/2007 02/09/2007 01/12/2007 29/02/2008 29/05/2008 27/08/2008 25/11/2008 23/02/2009 24/05/2009 22/08/2009 20/11/2009 18/02/2010 19/05/2010 17/08/2010 15/11/2010 13/02/2011 14/05/2011 12/08/2011 10/11/2011 08/02/2012 08/05/2012 06/08/2012 04/11/2012 02/02/2013 03/05/2013 01/08/2013 30/10/2013 DATE TURBIDITY (NTU) 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 TURBIDITY MEAN ANNUAL TURBIDITY

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Key Results: Grip Blocking

Trend towards higher and more stable peat water-table levels over time at Goyt (below) however Brennand shows no consistent trends.

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 26/03/2007 26/05/2007 26/07/2007 26/09/2007 26/11/2007 26/01/2008 26/03/2008 26/05/2008 26/07/2008 26/09/2008 26/11/2008 26/01/2009 26/03/2009 26/05/2009 26/07/2009 26/09/2009 26/11/2009 26/01/2010 26/03/2010 26/05/2010 26/07/2010 26/09/2010 26/11/2010 26/01/2011 26/03/2011 26/05/2011 26/07/2011 26/09/2011 26/11/2011 26/01/2012 26/03/2012 26/05/2012 26/07/2012 26/09/2012 26/11/2012 26/01/2013 26/03/2013 26/05/2013 26/07/2013 26/09/2013 26/11/2013 DATE W ATER TABLE DEPTH BELOW SURFACE (cm)

Water Table Level (below surface, cm) Mean annual WTL (cm)

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On Brennand where water table monitoring results are unclear, there is localised evidence of the benefits of blocking grips.

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Many of the trends on well-vegetated blanket bog are difficult to detect through fixed point photography, but some are discernable – Goyt Valley (below). 2007 2010 2012

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Key Results: Bare Peat Restoration

Significant increase in vegetation cover across treated plots on North Longdendale. Nurse crop (largely Highland bent, Agrostis castellana) establishes quickly then reduces in cover.

20 40 60 80 100 120 BB1 BB6a BB6b BB7

Site Code Vegetation Cover (%)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2012

* * * * * *

20 40 60 80 100 BB1 BB6a BB6b BB7

Site Code Nurse Crop Cover (%)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2012

* * * * * * * * * * * *

• BB1 = mounds of bare peat with lime, seed and fertiliser (LSF)
• BB6 = bare peat slopes with LSF, brash (a – geojute; b + geojute)
• BB7 = untreated bare peat slopes

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Key Results: Bare Peat Restoration

Dwarf shrubs (largely heather, Calluna vulgaris) begin to establish. Along with mosses Campylopus introflexus and Hypnum jutlandicum.

20 40 60 80 100 BB1 BB6a BB6b BB7

Site Code Dwarf Shrub Cover (%)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2012

* * * * * *

20 40 60 80 100 BB1 BB6a BB6b BB7

Site Code Bryophyte Cover (%)

2007 2008 2010 2010 2012

* * * * * * * *

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Key Results: Bare Peat Restoration

2008 2007 2012 2010 2007 2012

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Key Results: Bare Peat Restoration

Trend towards lower colour over time, but this is only statistically significant when assessing post-treatment data only (after 2008).

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 14/07/2006 22/10/2006 30/01/2007 10/05/2007 18/08/2007 26/11/2007 05/03/2008 13/06/2008 21/09/2008 30/12/2008 09/04/2009 18/07/2009 26/10/2009 03/02/2010 14/05/2010 22/08/2010 30/11/2010 10/03/2011 18/06/2011 26/09/2011 04/01/2012 13/04/2012 22/07/2012 30/10/2012 07/02/2013 18/05/2013 26/08/2013 04/12/2013 DATE COLOUR (HAZEN) 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Raw Water Colour SMALL CLOUGH Monthly Mean

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Key Results: Bare Peat Restoration

Trend towards increasing and more stable water table levels over time, except for 2013 – still vulnerable to dry periods.

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 22-02-2008 22-05-2008 22-08-2008 22-11-2008 22-02-2009 22-05-2009 22-08-2009 22-11-2009 22-02-2010 22-05-2010 22-08-2010 22-11-2010 22-02-2011 22-05-2011 22-08-2011 22-11-2011 22-02-2012 22-05-2012 22-08-2012 22-11-2012 22-02-2013 22-05-2013 22-08-2013 22-11-2013

PEAT WATER TABLE LEVEL BELOW SURFACE (cm)

Daily Mean Raw Data Annual Mean

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5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 BB2a BB2b

Plot Code Vegetation Cover (%)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2013

Removed sheep grazing only. BB2a – no coir rolls; BB2b – coir rolls added Plot without coir rolls appeared to do better…?

Key Results: Bare Peat Restoration

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Key Results: Bare Peat Restoration

There is significant recovery of vegetation on the plots with coir rolls. Recovery dominated by vegetative expansion of common cotton-grass, Eriophorum angustifolium. No evidence of seedling establishment.

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Summary

• Significant reductions in bare peat and increases in vegetation cover.
• Sphagnum cover is increasing, responds quickly if greater cover remains.
• Removing/reducing grazing and burning alone results in positive change.
• Stabilising bare peat important in re-vegetation of bare peat.
• Nurse crop treatment is effective.
• Additional heather brash and geojute encourages more rapid re-vegetation
• f slopes, geojute important on steeper slopes.
• Water quality is improving with reductions in colour (and turbidity), although

still problematic on severely eroded catchments.

• Water table levels are generally increasing and stabilising, but vulnerable to

dry periods where severe erosion has occurred.