Assessing the impact of land use on peat degradation in bogs in the Enns Valley, Austria

Autor(en)

Yujing Deng, Kyle Boodoo, Klaus-Holger Knorr, Stephan Glatzel

Abstrakt

Peatlands are important reservoirs of soil organic carbon and nitrogen. Conversion
of peatlands for agriculture and forestry has led to the degradation of over 50%
of European peatlands – resulting in increased greenhouse gas emissions and
groundwater contamination because of nutrient leaching. However, few studies
have investigated the effects of land use change on peatlands with a similar history
of development, and even fewer have explored these impacts on deeper peat
layers (down to 80 cm). Here, we use multiple physicochemical indicators to assess
peat degradation at three peat bog sites with varying land uses, but which
share a similar origin. Peat cores were collected in triplicate from: a near-pristine
bog, an afforested bog, and an agricultural intensive meadow. Principal component
analysis and hierarchical clustering showed that intensive meadow management,
with regular fertilizer application and drainage, primarily affected the
reworked surface layer (0–30) cm, with higher bulk density and greater humification,
leading to potentially irreversible changes in physical properties and carbon
export dynamics. Meanwhile, deeper layers (30–80 cm) remained similar to
near-pristine
conditions. In contrast, peat afforestation management, typically involving
deep ploughing and continued drainage over ca. 60 years, led to elevated
inorganic nitrogen concentrations in the upper 0–40 cm, and increased bulk density
and greater humification, down to 80 cm depth. Taken together, our results
indicate that afforestation and intensive agricultural management practices—
such as nutrient input, drainage, and deep ploughing—not only alter carbon and
nutrient export dynamics and chemical characteristics, but also induce changes
in the physical properties of peat, with notable distinctions between surface and
deeper layers. Therefore, management and restoration strategies should be carefully
developed to address the unique impacts of each specific land-use
type.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität Münster

Journal

Soil Use and Management

Band

41

Anzahl der Seiten

16

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.70013

Publikationsdatum

01-2025

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

105405 Geoökologie, 401902 Bodenkunde

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/0a96b7a1-4fb1-488d-9f59-bdfd7d8d7723