Peatlands as Nutrient Sinks (SUORA Project)

Introduction

Peatlands as nutrient sinks, hydrochemical ecosystem services of mires and their restoration potential.

The main objective of the project is to examine the potential of peatland nutrient sinks with different types of mires in Finland. The significance of nutrient sinks to the water management and water load of the catchment areas of peatlands and to the restoration potential of the peatland nutrient sinks is examined. The project is implemented by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). The project combines GTK’s extensive multi-element chemical mire database with 14C radiocarbon data and SYKE’s peatland water quality data. The project also includes additional sampling at selected sites in Southern, Central and Northern Finland, which is used to supplement existing data.

Specific objectives of the project are:

• Examining the scale of nutrient sinks and the potential nutrient retention capacity of different types of peatlands and peat types;
• Determining the spatial-historical and contemporary accumulation of nutrients (g/m2/a) with different nutrient gradients;
• Determining the link between nutrient sinks and total carbon accumulation (g/m2/a);
• Examining the link between nutrient balance and hydrological ecosystem services, i.e. the link between water quality in the catchment area and the nutrient stores and sinks of peat;
• Surveying the potential for the restoration of drained peatland nutrient sinks in Finland.

The project supports the HELMI Habitats Programme of the Ministry of the Environment. The project is financed by the Ministry of the Environment of Finland.

Return to projects