Environmental effects of drainage, drain-blocking and prescribed vegetation burning in UK upland peatlands

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
Peatlands are important ecosystems for carbon (C) storage, provision of water resources and biodiversity. This paper reviews the hydrological, physicochemical and ecological effects of 3 widespread UK peatland management practices, namely artificial drainage, drain blocking and rotational heather burning. Relatively little is known about the environmental effects of rotational heather burning compared with drainage and drain-blocking management, and for all three of these management techniques there is scarce information on river ecosystem response. The AA. hypothesize some likely effects of basin-scale drainage, drain blocking and heather burning on stream ecosystems and illustrate these with a schematic model. Such a holistic consideration of peatland river basins is particularly timely with respect to the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Progress in physical geography, issn : 0309-1333, 2009, vol. 33, n°. 1, p. 49-79, nombre de pages : 31, Références bibliographiques : 7 p.

Date :
2009

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, London, Sage Publications