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生长介质的做法是不可持续的，正在破坏日益稀少和高价值的生态系统，对碳排放产生不利影响，而且在规划过程的限制范围内越来越难以维持。如果不断增长的媒体行业要有一个长期的未来，迫切需要一种高质量的替代泥炭作为生长介质。商业养殖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分解的泥炭藓叶和茎碎片组成。新鲜泥炭藓提供了与高品质泥炭相同的特性和属性，但目前不能轻易从野外获得，因为泥炭藓丰富的地区已经变得越来越稀少，而那些仍然存在的地区现在基本上受到环境立法的保护。另一方面，泥炭藓种植提供了在可预见的未来可持续供应高质量生长介质的潜力。然而，这种耕作需要在开始时就有一个起始繁殖体的来源，以产生最初的作物。由于使野生收获新鲜泥炭藓不受欢迎和困难的相同原因，这目前是一个重大障碍。到目前为止，还不可能大量繁殖和生长泥炭藓，这一限制阻碍了对新鲜泥炭藓所提供的可能性的积极考虑。然而，微繁殖服务有限公司（MPS）已经研究了一种独特的实验室技术，用于泥炭藓的微繁殖，现在提供了在商业规模上种植这种苔藓的潜力。这种新的解决方案涉及使用无菌组织培养-微繁殖从叶片碎片大量生产泥炭藓。自2008年以来，MMU向MPS提供研究支持，以开发在野外种植繁殖泥炭藓的方法，以恢复栖息地。英格兰北方使用这些方法进行的恢复规模很大，2013- 2015年高地泥炭地已增加到1，000公顷。当前的项目提案旨在建立基础过程，在足以形成大量源材料的规模上种植泥炭藓所涉及的种植要求和生产潜力，这将使泥炭藓种植成为使用种植的可行建议适用于农田规模的技术。我们的项目将集中在一个泥炭地区域，该区域以前曾被用于商业泥炭提取，但由于没有多少泥炭可供提取，现在已经达到了商业寿命的终点。联合体项目内的MMU研究将与其他合作伙伴领导的较小和较大规模的方法紧密结合。MMU将在试验性小块田间小区中实地测试选定的泥炭藓基因型的生长情况;我们将调查通过添加营养素提高产量的可能性。排水泥炭地是呼吸二氧化碳的来源。泥炭藓的再湿润和栽培具有通过提高光合作用中的CO2同化和减少呼吸作用中的CO2损失来固碳的潜力。然而，从干燥到潮湿的泥炭地的开关可能会刺激甲烷（CH 4）从沼泽表面和周围的灌溉沟渠排放。需要评估湿润和泥炭藓栽培对碳交换的时间进程和净效益。泥炭藓种植的养分需求和循环尚未评估，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研究中学到的更多知识将通过在环境可持续的农业系统中改善泥炭藓生产来指导产品开发。