Securing long-term ecosystem function in lowland organic soils (SEFLOS)

英国58%的蔬菜是自己生产的，估计每年的经济价值为12亿GB。其中许多产于东英吉利地区的低地沼泽泥炭地。田地种植的沙拉蔬菜尤其如此，这些泥炭地为英国所有主要超市提供了大部分沙拉蔬菜。虽然这些土壤被认为是超高产的，但它们也非常容易受到破坏，这威胁到它们的长期经济未来。例如，由于风蚀和泥炭微生物分解的共同作用，土壤流失的平均速度在每年1-2厘米深的区域内。人们还普遍预测，随着气候变化，二氧化碳的损失率可能会增加，使其成为一种脆弱的资源。一些较浅的泥炭已经完全消失，而较深的泥炭的有限寿命估计在75-125年左右，除非采取措施减少土壤流失的速度。英国下议院环境审计委员会最近发布的关于土壤健康的报告指出，耕种泥炭地的土壤流失是英国土壤安全面临的最大威胁之一。作为对此的回应，我们的项目旨在与园艺行业和其他关键组织合作，研究新的方法来拯救这些泥炭地，使其免受进一步快速退化和自然资本的损失。我们将重点努力减少生物中介的土壤碳损失和土壤的物理风蚀损失。我们假设，在一年中的关键时间段(例如，在地面没有作物的冬季)积极管理地下水位可以用来减少土壤中的微生物活动，减少泥炭以二氧化碳形式的损失。然而，这必须以不增加其他温室气体(CH4、N2O)的排放或对生产力或土壤质量造成其他负面影响的方式进行。此外，我们还将利用室外盆栽试验，探索其他潜在的协同策略，作为土壤保持措施对地下水位干预的补充(例如，使用硝化抑制剂、覆盖作物等)。由于我们对风蚀造成的土壤流失量的了解仍然很少，我们还将使用现场监测和受控风洞实验来更好地定量估计这一流失途径。这将允许种植者决定是否投资于可能减少侵蚀损失的保护性技术(例如土壤物理结合剂、冬季覆盖)。虽然这个项目将产生大量关于不同管理情景下泥炭地行为的基本知识，但重要的是，该研究还应认识到这些农业系统运行的社会经济背景。因此，该项目的一个关键部分将是评估替代战略的社会、经济和环境影响，并将这些战略与一切照旧的情况进行比较。为了促进这一点，将在项目开始时与来自行业、环境监管机构和政策制定者、当地排水委员会和保护机构的代表举行利益攸关方研讨会，以积极引导项目取得既实用、经济可行又能提供最佳环境成果的成果。此外，还将在项目接近尾声时举办一次最后的参与研讨会，探讨技术采用的障碍。这将导致制定一份面向种植者和政策的路线图，以便今后保护这一脆弱的土壤资源，并将重点放在平衡经济和环境可持续性上。最终，这项研究同时旨在为子孙后代保护这种土壤资源，同时保持盈利能力、生产率和英国政府对可持续集约化、更大的食品安全和减少温室气体排放的愿望。

The UK produces 58% of its own vegetables which have an estimated economic value of £1.2 billion annually. Many of these are produced on the lowland fen peatlands within the East Anglia region. This is particularly the case for field-grown salad vegetables with these peatlands supplying the majority of salad vegetables to all the major UK supermarkets. While these soils are recognised as being super-productive, they are also highly susceptible to damage which is threatening their long term economic future. For example, the average rate of soil loss from a combination of wind erosion and microbial breakdown of the peat lies in the region 1-2 cm depth per year. It is also widely predicted that the rate of loss is likely to increase with climate change making it a fragile resource. Some of the more shallow peats have already been completely lost, while the deeper peats have a finite lifetime estimated to be in the region of 75-125 years unless something is done to reduce the rate of soil loss. The recent House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee report on Soil Health identified the loss of soil from cultivated peatlands as one of the greatest threats to soil security in the UK. In response to this, our project aims to work with the horticultural industry and other key organisations to investigate new ways to save these peatlands from further rapid degradation and a loss of natural capital. We will focus on trying to reduce both the biologically-mediated loss of soil carbon and also the physical wind erosional loss of soil. We hypothesise that active management of the water table at strategic times of the year (e.g. during winter when there is no crop in the ground) can be used to reduce microbial activity in the soil and reduce losses of peat in the form of CO2. However, this must be done in such a way that it doesn't increase the release of other greenhouse gases (CH4, N2O) or result in other negative impacts on productivity or on soil quality. In addition, using outdoor mesocosm trials, we will explore other potential synergistic strategies that may complement water table intervention as a soil conservation measure (e.g. use of nitrification inhibitors, cover crops etc). As our knowledge of the amount of soil lost by wind erosion remains poor, we will also use field monitoring and controlled wind tunnel experiments to get a better quantitative estimate of this loss pathway. This will allow growers to decide on whether to invest in protective technologies that might reduce erosional losses (e.g. soil physical binding agents, winter cover). While this project will generate lots of fundamental knowledge on peatland behaviour under different management scenarios, it is important that the research also recognises the socioeconomic context in which these agricultural systems operate. A key part of this project will therefore be to evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts of the alternative strategies and compare these against the business-as-usual scenario. To facilitate this, a stakeholder workshop at the start of the project with representatives from industry, environmental regulators and policymakers, local drainage boards and conservation bodies will be used to actively steer the project towards outcomes that are both practical, economically viable and provide the best environmental outcome. This will be complemented by a final engagement workshop towards the end of the project where the barriers to technology adoption are explored. This will lead to the production of a grower- and policy-orientated roadmap for future preservation of this fragile soil resource and will have a focus on balancing economic and environmental sustainability. Ultimately, the research simultaneously aims to protect this soil resource for generations to come whilst maintaining profitability, productivity, and UK government's desire for sustainable intensification, greater food security and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.