Paludiculture

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Paludiculture [English: paludiculture] (from the Latin palus "morass, swamp" and cultura "cultivation") is the agricultural use of wet or rewetted bog soils . The cultivation of reeds for thatch is a traditional example. New processes are the generation of energy from reed biomass or the cultivation of peat moss as a peat substitute in growing media in horticulture. An important goal of paludiculture is the preservation or regeneration of peat . An extensive project on paludiculture is underway at the University of Greifswald .

Drainage and consequences

To this day, large areas of bogs are drained for agriculture, forestry and peat extraction. As a result, the peat formed over thousands of years is aerated and broken down by microbes. The consequences are soil degradation and peat subsidence. This so-called "vicious circle of peatland use" (KUNTZE, H. (1983). Problems of modern agricultural peatland use, in: Telma 13: 137–152) leads to the loss of site-typical biodiversity, loss of water filter, water storage and retention functions and increases Pollution of groundwater and surface water through nutrient discharge. Above all, drained bog soils release enormous amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. After all, lowering the groundwater horizon results in ongoing follow-up costs even after the growth in yield has ended. The ongoing degradation also makes these areas unusable in the long term.

Emissions

Although peatlands only make up 3% of the earth's land area, they store 450 Gt more carbon than the earth's entire forest cover (Bridgham et al. 2006, Dixon et al. 1994). 0.3% of peatlands worldwide are drained, but they emit two Gt CO 2 annually (FAO 2012). That's a third of the greenhouse gases from agriculture and forestry, or 6% of all human-made carbon emissions. This corresponds to three times the amount of global air traffic (IPCC 2001). Drained peatlands are therefore hotspots for greenhouse gas emissions.

Rewetting and paludiculture

In view of the pressure to use a growing world population, experts from national and international organizations expect that peatland areas will have to be available for agriculture in the future as well. In order for them to function as carbon and water reservoirs, the FAO MICCA (FAO 2012) recommends not to drain peatlands, but to use them as wet or rewetted sites through paludiculture.

Paludiculture on fen

Suitable paludiculture plants for rewetted fens are stalks such as reeds, sedges, cane grass, woody plants (e.g. black alder) or herbs (e.g. fever clover and valerian). Reeds and reeds can be used as construction and insulation material or in the form of briquettes, pellets or biogas for energy generation. The biomass obtained can be used energetically as a regional renewable raw material for decentralized heat and power generation. It is clearly superior to “organic” energy sources such as maize or grass silage on drained bog in the balance sheet (Wichtmann and Wichmann, TELMA supplement 4 2011). The biomass of 1 ha of reeds (8 t) corresponds to the energy content of 3000 l of heating oil (Schröder et al. 2012). Straw materials such as reeds and sedges have a calorific value similar to that of wood (Couwenberg, 2007).

Paludiculture on high moor

Peat mosses (lat. Sphagnum ) can be cultivated on degraded raised bogs and used as an alternative to slightly decomposed white peat in horticultural growing media. The worldwide demand for white peat is 30 million m³ annually. So far, this has been obtained through peat extraction. The destruction of sensitive ecosystems and the release of CO 2 are the result. The stocks of degradable white peat in Western and Central Europe are almost exhausted. B. Germany, currently Europe's largest substrate producer and user for commercial horticulture, 1.8 million m³. The cultivation of peat moss on rewetted raised bog areas is one way of producing high-quality growing media sustainably as a renewable raw material.

Web links

literature

  • Official Journal of the European Union, L series: DECISION No. 529/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Brussels 21 May 2013. Official Journal of the European Union - DECISION No. 529/2013 (PDF)
  • Bridgham, SD, Megonigal, JP, Keller, JK et al .: The Carbon Balance of North American Wetlands. Wetlands 26, 4/2006, pp. 889-916.
  • Couwenberg, J. 2007. Biomass energy crops on peatlands: on emissions and perversions. IMCG Newsletter 2007/3: 12-14.
  • Dixon, RK, Solomon, AM, Brown, S. et al .: Carbon Pools and Flux of Global Forest Ecosystems. Science Vol. 263, 1994, 185-190.
  • FAO and Wetlands International, Hans Joosten, Marja-Liisa Tapio-Biström & Susanna Tol Eds .: Peatlands - guidance for climate change mitigation by conservation, rehabilitation and sustainable use. 2nd edition, Rome 2012. ISBN 978-92-5-107302-5 FAO brochure "Peatlands" (PDF; 5.4 MB)
  • Gaudig, G. et al. (2014): Rethinking the use of peatlands: Paludiculture brings numerous advantages. - ANLiegen Natur 36 (2): 67–74, running. PDF 0.9 MB.
  • Institute for Botany and Landscape Ecology University of Greifswald Hrsg .: Paludikultur. Perspectives for people and moor. Greifswald 2011. Brochure "Paludiculture" (PDF; 1.2 MB)
  • Institute for Botany and Landscape Ecology University of Greifswald Hrsg .: Paludiculture. Sustainable productive utilization of rewetted peatlands. Greifswald 2012.
  • IPCC Ed. (2001): Aviation and the Global Atmosphere. Arendal 2001. IPCC report "Aviation and the Global Atmosphere"
  • Schröder, C., Dahms, T., Wichmann, S., Wichtmann, W., & Joosten, H. (2012): Paludikultur - A regional bioenergy concept for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. 6th edition. University of Rostock, Rostock. 76 pp.
  • UNEP, Achim Steiner Ed .: UNEP Yearbook 2012. Nairobi 2012. UNEP Yearbook 2012 (PDF; 16.1 MB)
  • W. Wichtmann, S. Wichmann: Energetic use of fen biomass . In: Bioenergy - Opportunity and Challenge for the Regional and Global Economy. Proceedings of the 3rd Rostock Bioenergy Forum. Volume 23, Institute for Environmental Engineering, 2009, ISBN 978-3-86009-068-8 , pp. 87-99.
  • W. Wichtmann, A. Schäfer: Alternative management options for degraded fens - utilization of biomass from rewetted peatlands. In: T. Okruszko, E. Maltby, J. Szaty-lowicz, D. Swiatek, W. Kotowski: Wetlands: Monitoring, Modeling and Management. Taylor & Francis / Balkema, Leiden (Netherlands) 2007, pp. 273-279.
  • W. Wichtmann, H. Joosten: Paludiculture: peat formation and renewable resources from rewetted peatlands. IMCG Newsletter, issue 2007/3, August 2007, pp. 24–28.
  • W. Wichtmann and S. Wichmann: Paludikultur: Site-appropriate management of rewetted moors / Paludicultur - site adapted management of re-wetted peatlands. TELMA supplement 4 2011, pages 215–234
  • Wichtmann, W., S. Wichmann & F. Tanneberger (2010): Paludiculture - Use of wet moors: Perspectives on the energetic utilization of fens biomass. Nature conservation and landscape management in Brandenburg, issue 1/2
  • Wichtmann, W., F. Tanneberger, S. Wichmann & H. Joosten (2010): Paludiculture is paludifuture. Climate, biodiversity and economic benefits from agriculture and forestry on rewetted peatlands. Peatland International. I / 2010, 48 - 51
  • H. Joosten, D. Clarke: Wise Use of Mires and Peatland. International Mire Conservation Group, NHBS, Totnes 2002, ISBN 951-97744-8-3 .
  • F. Tanneberger, W. Wichtmann: Carbon credits from peatland rewetting. Climate - biodiversity - land use . 2011. ISBN 978-3-510-65271-6 . Swiss beard Science Publishers, Stuttgart

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peatlands and organic soils ( English ) FAO. Retrieved September 17, 2019.