ISCF WAVE 1 AGRI TECH: Sphagnum Farming UK - A Sustainable Alternative to Peat in Growing Media

ISCF WAVE 1 AGRI TECH：英国泥炭藓种植——种植介质中泥炭的可持续替代品

• 批准号: BB/R021678/1
• 负责人: Simon Caporn
• 金额: $ 21.34万
• 依托单位: Manchester Metropolitan University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FR021678%2F1
• 关键词: ISCF; WAVE; AGRI; TECH; Sphagnum

The current commercial extraction of peat for use as a growing media in horticulture is widely acknowledged as unsustainable, is destroying increasingly rare and highly-valued ecosystems, is having an adverse effect on carbon emissions, and is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain within the constraints of the planning process. A high-quality alternative to peat as a growing medium is urgently needed if the growing media industry is to have a long-term future. Commercially farmed Sphagnum moss could provide this because the highest-quality horticultural peat consists largely of semi-decomposed Sphagnum leaf and stem fragments. Fresh Sphagnum provides the same characteristics and properties as high-quality peat but cannot currently be readily obtained from the wild because Sphagnum-rich areas have become increasingly rare and those which do remain are largely now protected under environmental legislation. Sphagnum farming, on the other hand, offers the potential to provide a sustainable supply of high-quality growing medium into the foreseeable future. Such farming requires a source of starting propagules at the outset, however, to generate the initial crop. This is currently a significant obstacle for the same reasons that make wild harvesting of fresh Sphagnum undesirable and difficult. Until now it has not been possible to propagate and grow Sphagnum in large quantities, a limitation which has prevented active consideration of the possibilities offered by fresh Sphagnum. Micropropagation Services Ltd (MPS), however, have researched a unique laboratory technique for the micropropagation of Sphagnum which now offers the potential to grow this moss on a commercial scale. This novel solution involves the mass production of Sphagnum from leaf fragments using sterile tissue culture - micropropagation. Since 2008 MMU has supplied research support to MPS to develop methods of planting propagated Sphagnum in the field for habitat restoration. The scale of restoration using these methods in northern England is significant, having increased to 1,000 ha of upland peatland in 2013-2015.The current project proposal aims to establish the underpinning processes, the cultivation requirements and the production potential involved in growing Sphagnum on a scale sufficient to form source material in quantities which would make Sphagnum farming a viable proposition using cultivation techniques which are applicable at the farm-field scale. Our project will focus on an area of peatland which has previously been used for commercial peat extraction but which has now reached the end of its commercial life because there is little peat left to extract. MMU research within the consortium project will be strongly integrated with approaches at smaller and larger scales led by the other partners. MMU will field test the growth of selected Sphagnum genotypes in experimental small field plots; we will investigate the possibility of increasing production through nutrient addition. Drained peatlands are a source of respiratory CO2. Re-wetting and cultivation of Sphagnum has the potential to sequester carbon through raising CO2 assimilation in photosynthesis and cutting CO2 losses in respiration. However, the switch from a dry to a wet peatland may stimulate methane (CH4) emissions from the bog surface and surrounding irrigation ditches. The time-course and net benefits of wetting and Sphagnum cultivation on carbon exchange require evaluation. Nutrient demand and cycling by Sphagnum farming has not been assessed but requires investigation in order to provide optimal supply for production while minimizing losses such as emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide or release to water courses of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Increased knowledge learned from MMU research will guide product development through improvement of Sphagnum production within an environmentally sustainable farming system.

人们普遍认为，目前商业开采泥炭用作园艺栽培基质的做法是不可持续的，正在破坏日益稀有和宝贵的生态系统，对碳排放产生不利影响，并且在规划过程的限制下越来越难以维持。如果不断增长的媒体行业想要有一个长远的未来，迫切需要一种高质量的替代泥炭作为一种不断增长的媒介。商业种植的泥炭藓可以提供这一点，因为最高质量的园艺泥炭主要由半腐烂的泥炭叶和茎碎片组成。新鲜的泥炭泥提供了与优质泥炭相同的特性和特性，但目前无法从野外轻易获得，因为泥炭泥丰富的地区已变得越来越稀少，而那些仍然存在的泥炭土现在基本上受到环境立法的保护。另一方面，泥炭养殖提供了在可预见的未来提供可持续的高质量生长基质供应的潜力。然而，这种耕作需要一开始就开始繁殖的来源，才能产生最初的作物。由于同样的原因，这是目前的一个重大障碍，使得野生收获新鲜泥炭泥变得不受欢迎和困难。到目前为止，还不可能大量繁殖和种植泥炭藓，这一限制阻碍了人们积极考虑新鲜泥炭藓提供的可能性。然而，微繁殖服务有限公司(MPS)已经为泥炭藓微繁殖研究了一种独特的实验室技术，现在有可能在商业规模上种植这种苔藓。这一新的解决方案包括利用无菌组织培养-微繁殖技术从叶片碎片中大规模生产泥炭疽。自2008年以来，MMU为MPS提供了研究支持，以开发在野外种植繁殖的泥炭地以恢复栖息地的方法。在英格兰北部，使用这些方法进行恢复的规模很大，2013-2015年间增加到1,000公顷旱地泥炭地。目前的项目提案旨在建立种植泥炭泥所涉及的支撑过程、栽培要求和生产潜力，规模足以形成大量的原始材料，使泥炭土种植成为一个可行的提议，使用适用于农场规模的栽培技术。我们的项目将专注于一片泥炭地，这片泥炭地以前曾被用于商业泥炭提取，但现在已经到了商业寿命的尽头，因为几乎没有泥炭可以提取了。该联盟项目内的MMU研究将与由其他伙伴牵头的更小规模和更大规模的方法紧密结合。MMU将在小块试验田中实地测试选定的泥炭疽基因型的生长情况；我们将研究通过添加养分来增加产量的可能性。排干的泥炭地是呼吸性二氧化碳的来源之一。重新湿润和种植泥炭藻能通过提高光合作用中的二氧化碳同化作用和减少呼吸中的二氧化碳损失来封存碳。然而，从干燥的泥炭地转变为潮湿的泥炭地可能会刺激沼泽表面和周围灌溉沟渠排放甲烷(CH4)。湿化和泥炭沼泽栽培对碳交换的时间进程和净效益需要评估。尚未对泥炭藻养殖业的营养需求和循环进行评估，但需要进行调查，以便为生产提供最佳供应，同时最大限度地减少温室气体一氧化二氮的排放或溶解无机氮向水体的释放等损失。从MMU研究中学到的更多的知识将通过在环境可持续的耕作系统内改善泥炭疽的生产来指导产品开发。