Mitigation of peat extraction impacts by a new peat harvesting method protecting the peatland stored solid carbon

通过保护泥炭地储存的固体碳的新泥炭收获方法减轻泥炭开采的影响

• 批准号: 555923-2020
• 负责人: Rochefort, LineL
• 金额: $ 13.23万
• 依托单位: Université Laval
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Alliance Grants
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=763519
• 关键词: Mitigation; peat; extraction; impacts; new

Peat extraction for the production of horticultural substrates is a well-established industry in Canada. However,the current method used for peat extraction depletes the long-term stored carbon (C) contributing to climatechange, having a negative impact on the social acceptability of using peat in gardening and horticulture.Premier Tech Horticulture, a world leader in peat production and distribution, understands that C emissionsmust be significantly reduced or halted. With that aim, Premier Tech Horticulture has pioneered a novelharvesting method, named the "acrotelm-harvesting method". Because the new peat cutting method does notrequire any draining of the peatlands and only harvests the top subsurface of the peat (~ 10 cm) leaving thesurface vegetation intact; we suppose that the long-term stored peat will remain intact (objective 1). Moreover,recent research suggests that this harvesting method could be optimized by reducing peat decomposition bystrengthening the mechanism of 'enzymic latch'. Objective 2 will test the effect of phenolic compoundadditions to slow down decomposition within a large-scale field experiment. Additionally, the potential of thisnew harvesting method to maintain flora and fauna habitats will be assessed (objective 3), as it aims to harvestpeat biomass on a cyclical, sustainable, and optimized manner. If the new peat harvesting method proves to besuccessful in protecting the long-term storage of C from peatland, at least three very positive outcomes willemerge for the whole peat industry: 1) a significant reduction in C emissions mitigating climate change, 2) theachievement of social acceptability for peat use (consumers), and 3) the creation of new jobs and opportunitiesto sell specialized harvesting equipment in Canada and globally.

用于生产园艺基质的泥炭开采在加拿大是一个成熟的行业。然而，目前用于泥炭提取的方法会耗尽长期储存的碳 (C)，从而导致气候变化，对在园艺和园艺中使用泥炭的社会可接受性产生负面影响。Premier Tech Horticulture 是泥炭生产和分销领域的世界领先者，深知必须大幅减少或停止碳排放。为了这个目标，Premier Tech Horticulture 开创了一种新颖的收获方法，命名为“acrotelm 收获方法”。因为新的泥炭切割方法不需要对泥炭地进行任何排水，只收获泥炭的顶部地下（约 10 厘米），使表面植被完好无损；我们假设长期储存的泥炭将保持完整（目标 1）。此外，最近的研究表明，可以通过加强“酶锁”机制来减少泥炭分解，从而优化这种收割方法。目标 2 将在大规模现场实验中测试添加酚类化合物对减缓分解的效果。此外，还将评估这种新的收获方法维持动植物栖息地的潜力（目标 3），因为它的目标是以循环、可持续和优化的方式收获泥炭生物量。如果新的泥炭收获方法被证明能够成功保护泥炭地中碳的长期储存，那么整个泥炭行业至少会出现三个非常积极的成果：1）显着减少碳排放，缓解气候变化，2）实现泥炭使用（消费者）的社会接受度，以及3）创造新的就业机会和在加拿大和全球销售专业收获设备的机会。