We’ve just started a new project on an upland plateau in the Highlands. An experimental trial has been set up to investigate a variety of approaches to restoring blanket bog vegetation on eroding bare peat surfaces at high altitude. The site comprises a complex mixture of intact mire and peatland in different erosional phases. The work involves measurements being made inside a large deer-fenced enclosure and outside it on similar land. We’re looking at vegetation colonization rates and also peat erosion rates using a system of narrow pins positioned on the eroding peat surface – the site is subject to intense frost and intense insolation in the spring which forms needle ice; this loosens the peat surface and makes it hard for new plants to colonise. The results of the work will be interesting to see in future years, given that trying to obtain a successful outcome in such extreme conditions will be difficult.
