A practical guide for the propagation and establishment of Sphagnum mosses for restoration purposes

In northwest Germany, over 2,000 km² of peatland area have been destroyed or significantly degraded through drainage and subsequent agricultural use or peat extraction. This loss of habitat has been accompanied by the decline of many rare and highly specialized animal and plant species. Additionally, peatlands serve as long-term carbon sinks or, in a degraded state, as significant sources of greenhouse gases, making the restoration of peatlands increasingly important for climate protection.

In the past 30 years, rewetting measures have been carried out on over 10,000 hectares of drained peatlands. Furthermore, in the coming years, over one-third of the 26,000 hectares of industrial peat extraction areas in Lower Saxony will be taken out of use and rewetted. However, there is currently no up-to-date guideline for restoration practices in northwest Germany, and the approach strongly depends on the knowledge of the individuals involved. Moreover, the current restoration practice relies on relatively short-term success monitoring.

On more than 50 rewetting sites in northwest Germany, as part of final theses and study projects, preliminary investigations have shown that most typical peatland plant species, especially Bulttorf mosses, are almost completely absent. Especially on previously agriculturally used areas, there are often dominant stands of common reed. Besides partially unsuitable or not yet stable site conditions (hydrology, nutrient supply), this is primarily due to a lack of dispersal.

The medium- to long-term goal of this project is to overcome this limitation and actively introduce typical peatland plant species, especially the Bulttorf mosses that are important for peat formation, into rewetting areas. This aims to promote these often rare species and accelerate the development of the areas towards living and peat-forming peatlands.

This is a joint project of Gramoflor GmbH & Co. KG, Stiftung Lebensraum Moor, and the Institute of Landscape Ecology at WWU Münster, working groups on ecosystem research and hydrology.