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 (CO 2 ) 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 (CH 4 ) 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 CH 4 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 CH 4 emissions at the restored site were 4.2 g m −2 CH 4 season −1 , 4.6 times greater than the cutover site. Ponds and ditches at the restored site were seasonal CH 4 emission hot spots (0.3 and 2.9 g m −2 CH 4 season −1 , respectively); however, emissions from herbaceous vegetation (1.0 g m −2 CH 4 season −1 ) were the dominant source of CH 4 from the restored peatland due to its large areal extent. CH 4 fluxes from the Bois‐des‐Bel peatland represented 14% of the total CO 2 ‐equivalent losses from the site. This study demonstrates the importance of vegetation succession on peatland‐atmosphere flux of CH 4 .