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.

目前的商业开采泥炭被广泛认为是不可持续的，正在破坏越来越稀有和高价值的生态系统，对碳排放产生不利影响，并且越来越难以在规划过程的限制下维持。如果不断增长的媒体业要有长远的未来，就迫切需要一种高质量的替代品来替代泥炭作为不断增长的媒体业。商业种植的泥炭苔藓可以提供这一点，因为最高质量的园艺泥炭主要由半分解的泥炭叶子和茎碎片组成。新鲜的泥炭具有与优质泥炭相同的特征和特性，但目前无法轻易从野外获得，因为富含泥炭的地区越来越少，而那些仍然存在的地区现在大多受到环境立法的保护。另一方面，在可预见的未来，泥鳅养殖有可能提供可持续的高质量生长介质供应。然而，这种耕作方式在一开始就需要一个起始繁殖体的来源，以产生最初的作物。由于同样的原因，这是目前的一个重大障碍，使得野生收获新鲜的Sphagnum不受欢迎和困难。到目前为止，还不可能大量繁殖和种植Sphagnum，这一限制阻碍了对新鲜Sphagnum提供的可能性的积极考虑。然而，Micropropagation Services Ltd （MPS）已经研究了一种独特的实验室技术，用于Sphagnum的微繁殖，现在有可能在商业规模上种植这种苔藓。这种新颖的解决方案涉及利用无菌组织培养-微繁殖从叶片碎片中大量生产Sphagnum。自2008年以来，MMU一直为MPS提供研究支持，以开发在野外种植繁殖的Sphagnum的方法，以恢复栖息地。在英格兰北部，使用这些方法的恢复规模是显著的，2013-2015年已增加到1000公顷的高地泥炭地。目前的项目建议旨在确定基础过程、栽培要求和生产潜力，以形成足够数量的源材料，从而使使用适用于农场规模的栽培技术种植Sphagnum成为一项可行的建议。我们的项目将重点放在一块泥炭地上，这块泥炭地以前曾用于商业泥炭开采，但现在已经达到了商业寿命的终点，因为可供开采的泥炭已经所剩无几。财团项目中的MMU研究将与其他合作伙伴领导的规模或小或大的方法紧密结合。MMU将在实验小田块上对选定的Sphagnum基因型进行田间试验；我们将研究通过添加营养物质提高产量的可能性。排干的泥炭地是呼吸二氧化碳的来源。重新润湿和培养水藻具有通过提高光合作用中的二氧化碳同化和减少呼吸作用中的二氧化碳损失来固碳的潜力。然而，从干泥炭地到湿泥炭地的转变可能会刺激沼泽表面和周围灌溉沟渠的甲烷（CH4）排放。湿润栽培和水藻栽培对碳交换的时间过程和净效益有待评价。目前尚未对泥藻养殖的养分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，同时尽量减少温室气体一氧化二氮的排放或溶解无机氮向水道的释放等损失。从MMU研究中获得的更多知识将通过在环境可持续的农业系统中改进泥藻土生产来指导产品开发。