Achi news desk-
Swinton Manor near Ripon, a member of the Moorland Society, is taking part in a 10-year study in partnership with Yorkshire Water, Yorkshire Peat Partnership (YPP) and the University of Manchester to assess the impact of sphagnum moss on habitat restoration.
Read next:
The project is a detailed assessment of reintroducing sphagnum moss into peat habitats to help prevent carbon emissions and improve soil water retention. Sphagnum mosses are important peat-forming plants that help contribute to long-term carbon fixation in wetland habitats.
The use of drones can be a game changer because peatland restoration is currently very expensive and labor intensive.
Mark Cunliffe-Lister of Swinton Estate, chairman of the Moorland Association, said: “We are keen to play our part in peatland restoration to help improve soil hydrology and ensure carbon remains locked up in the soil as much as possible. Reintroducing sphagnum mosses is not always successful and ongoing monitoring is very expensive. If drones can lower the cost of restoring peatland, it benefits the environment, the land managers and the public purse.”
Rosie Snowden, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s peatland program manager, said: “We already use drones to capture topographic and high-resolution infrared images. If we can find a way to extract data such as sphagnum growth, vegetation structure and species, it could replace continuous ground monitoring by researchers and reduce the cost of such projects throughout the Great Northern Borough.”
Andrew Walker, Yorkshire Water’s director of catchment strategy said: “Yorkshire Water has been working closely with the Moorland Association for over a decade to understand and promote the importance that healthy blanket bogs can play in mitigating the effects of changing weather patterns on water quality and water supply. . Peatlands Health can provide further benefits to society and the environment, most notably reducing flooding downstream. We are grateful that Swinton Estate has enabled us to restore and enhance these internationally important habitats, which are sources of drinking water for Wensleydale and Harrogate. The ability to monitor remotely how effective interventions have been – Or not – build on evidence and confidence that continued investment from a variety of sources is correct.”
The research, which began in August 2017, seeks to understand the impact of reintroducing sphagnum to achieve environmental benefits such as improving soil water storage and preventing greenhouse gas emissions.
YPP also hopes to evaluate whether drones can be used to continuously monitor each sphagnum that is planted, rather than requiring people to do this work.
The research site is located on Masham-Colsterdale Moor on the Swinton Estate, in the Nidderdale National Landscape in North Yorkshire. The land is managed for grain shooting and is also used for sheep grazing.
A total of 60 plots of land were investigated in detail by the research team, with varying peat depths of between 30 cm and 190 cm.
