Olivia Bragg

The sensitivity of peat-covered upland landscapes

Abstract Ombrogenous mires, or bogs, are remarkable in that they are organic landforms built from living plants and their partially decayed remains (peat), together with large quantities of water derived directly from precipitation. In the uplands and northwest of the British Isles, they tend to dominate landscapes wherever the slope allows. The components of ombrogenous mires are highly sensitive to change, especially in hydrology. Their vegetation may alter in response to very small changes in water level and/or water chemistry, whereas the underlying peat may undergo total degradation on dewatering. The function of intact mire ecosystems incorporates mechanisms which tend to maintain stability when environmental conditions change; observation indicates, however, that the stability threshold may be crossed under some natural as well as some man-induced circumstances. Sensitivity is demonstrated by evidence from the plant remains preserved in the peat; from manipulation of management practices (particularly grazing and burning); from long-term (28–68 years) mapping of vegetation change; and from experimentation on the sensitivity of bog plants to components of air pollution. The ultimate manifestation of sensitivity is peat erosion, which is widespread in the uplands and may, in places, have been ongoing for several hundred years. It is concluded that we may anticipate heightened sensitivity to cultural perturbation of mire ecosystems during times of climate change, and thus that particular care in our approach to management of blanket peat landscapes is indicated at the present time.

Hydrology of peat-forming wetlands in Scotland

Peatlands cover approximately 14% of Scotland, although only part of this area is active (peat-forming) mire. Mires are important for the biodiversity of the specialist plant and animal communities they support. Study of mire ecosystems has revealed intimate relationships between their organic components and water, which mean that it is impossible to understand their ecology without considering hydrology. Whilst ecohydrological studies have concentrated on the internal functioning of mires, the insights gained are relevant to runoff generation in peat-covered river catchments. This paper reviews our knowledge of processes occurring in mires and relates these to wider catchment hydrology, on the basis of published information and recent research in Scotland. The influence of different types of land management is considered, and it emerges that mire is most effective in delaying storm run-off, in preventing soil erosion and in retaining inorganic nutrients when it is undrained; although there can be adverse effects on water quality under certain conditions. In the context of global warming, mire ecosystems are sensitive but at the same time robust to climate change, and thus contain archives of climatic data for the Holocene. Moreover, peatlands store significant quantities of carbon, and influence directly the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Various issues related to conservation and restoration of peatland biodiversity have been addressed constructively in recent decades, although approaches and objectives are not always consistent between sites. These are reviewed, and some outstanding issues and research needs are identified.

Approaching the physical-biological interface in rivers: a review of methods for ecological evaluation of flow regimes

New European legislation known as the Water Framework Directive (WFD) challenges catchment hydrologists and freshwater biologists to quantify the risk of damage to the organic communities of rivers that arises from anthropogenic distortion of the natural flow regime. Here, we take the first step towards this goal by collecting together relevant information from the two disciplines. An extensive biological literature is examined for insights into the ways in which the species and communities associated with rivers might change when the flow regime is altered. From the hydrological literature, the indicators of flow regime and flow regime change that are pertinent to ecology are described, and consideration is given to means of deriving flow regime data for ungauged river reaches. Attempts to combine hydrology and ecology in classifying rivers and in setting flow objectives to favour biota are then reviewed, together with integrated approaches to river management that aim to promote ecological quality. A significant scale disparity is noted between the disciplines, hydrology being studied at catchment, subcatchment and reach scales, and biology generally at local level. Nonetheless, both yield methods with potential applications in aspects of WFD implementation. The approach with most appeal for general risk assessment is based on the concept of hydrological alteration. This technique employs flow regime variables selected for their importance to aquatic and riparian ecology, and quantifies deviations from the natural values of these variables at reach scale. For WFD purposes, calibration of the scale of hydrological alteration in terms of risk to ecological status is desirable. In this, priority should be given to identification of the level of hydrological alteration that corresponds to the division between good and moderate ecological status.

A maximum-minimum recorder for shallow water tables, developed for ecohydrological studies on mires

A new, low-cost field instrument for determination of water levels, which records the highest and lowest levels attained between site visits, is described. Information is given on construction and use of the instrument, with emphasis on its application in ecohydrological studies on peatlands

Seven Years of Change Following Liming of Sphagnum Communities in Sector Vii of the Loch Fleet Catchment

Abstract In 1986, application of lime within the upper wetland area of sector VII of the Loch Fleet catchment initiated numerous unscheduled small-scale experiments on the vegetation of this heterogeneous terrain. Vegetation changes and erosion were monitored in permanent or relocated plots established in 1987 and 1989 and re-surveyed in 1993, seven years after liming. The most striking early effect, possibly occurring within a few weeks of lime application, was the death of Sphagnum papillosum carpet in soakways within the 2.5 ha area. Some patches of dead material were washed away, but bare surfaces were generally colonised by vascular plants, notably Juncus bulbosus. Effects in moorland and bog communities with dwarf shurbs were more subtle, involving reduction in Sphagnum cover and expansion of Erica teralix, Molinia caerulea, sedges and Narthecium ossifragum, but little change in the frequency of occurrence of Calluna vulgaris.

Deploying a 6LoWPAN, CoAP, low power, wireless sensor network: Poster Abstract

In order to integrate equipment from different vendors, wireless sensor networks need to become more standardized. Using IP as the basis of low power radio networks, together with application layer standards designed for this purpose is one way forward. This research focuses on implementing and deploying a system using Contiki, 6LoWPAN over an 868 MHz radio network, together with CoAP as a standard application layer protocol. A system was deployed in the Cairngorm mountains in Scotland as an environmental sensor network, measuring streams, temperature profiles in peat and periglacial features. It was found that RPL provided an effective routing algorithm, and that the use of UDP packets with CoAP proved to be an energy efficient application layer. This combination of technologies can be very effective in large area sensor networks.In order to integrate equipment from different vendors, wireless sensor networks need to become more standardized. Using IP as the basis of low power radio networks, together with application layer standards designed for this purpose is one way forward. This research focuses on implementing and deploying a system using Contiki, 6LoWPAN over an 868 MHz radio network, together with CoAP as a standard application layer protocol. A system was deployed in the Cairngorm mountains in Scotland as an environmental sensor network, measuring streams, temperature profiles in peat and periglacial features. It was found that RPL provided an effective routing algorithm, and that the use of UDP packets with CoAP proved to be an energy efficient application layer. This combination of technologies can be very effective in large area sensor networks.