Britain contains 75% of the world’s remaining heather moorland. It has been the regular custom to burn large tracts of heather on the peat-covered hills of Britain so that more red grouse can be reared for the rich to shoot. Gamekeepers set fire to large areas of old heather in order to encourage new growth next year to feed chicks that will be shot in the autumn. But the first definitive scientific report into the effects that burning heather has on wildlife and climate change shows the damage to the environment is far worse than previously thought. The water run-off from the damaged peat also adversely affects the aquatic life in the rivers that drain the moorlands of Britain.
The EMBER report (Effects of Moorland Burning on the Ecohydrology of River basins) is the result of five years work by a team from Leeds University and was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, with additional support from Yorkshire Water. Among the significant findings was that burning heather dried out and warmed the peat it grows in, causing the peat to disintegrate and release large quantities of stored carbon dioxide—so adding to the perils of climate change.
Professor Joseph Holden, from the School of Geography at the University of Leeds and co-author of the study, said: “Altering the hydrology of peatlands so they become drier is known to cause significant losses of carbon from storage in the soil. “This is of great concern, as peatlands are the largest natural store for carbon on the land surface of the UK and play a crucial role in climate change. They are the ‘Amazon of the UK’.”
The researchers discovered that the water table depth—the level below which the ground is saturated with water—is significantly deeper in areas where burning has taken place, compared to unburned areas. A deeper water table means that the peat near the surface will dry out and degrade, releasing stored pollutants, such as heavy metals into rivers, and carbon into the atmosphere.
Other important findings from EMBER include a decrease in the diversity and population sizes of invertebrates, such as insect larvae, in rivers draining from burned areas, and up to a 20?C increase in soil temperature in the immediate years after burning, compared to unburned sites.
Dr Brown said: “Even small changes in soil temperature can affect the decomposition of organic matter and the uptake of nutrients by plants. But we found increases as high as 20?C, with maximum temperatures reaching over 50?C in some cases. Such changes in thermal regime have not previously been considered in the debate over moorland management with fire, but could explain a lot of the changes we see in terms of soil chemistry and hydrology following burning.”
The EMBER report (Effects of Moorland Burning on the Ecohydrology of River basins) is the result of five years work by a team from Leeds University and was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, with additional support from Yorkshire Water. Among the significant findings was that burning heather dried out and warmed the peat it grows in, causing the peat to disintegrate and release large quantities of stored carbon dioxide—so adding to the perils of climate change.
Professor Joseph Holden, from the School of Geography at the University of Leeds and co-author of the study, said: “Altering the hydrology of peatlands so they become drier is known to cause significant losses of carbon from storage in the soil. “This is of great concern, as peatlands are the largest natural store for carbon on the land surface of the UK and play a crucial role in climate change. They are the ‘Amazon of the UK’.”
The researchers discovered that the water table depth—the level below which the ground is saturated with water—is significantly deeper in areas where burning has taken place, compared to unburned areas. A deeper water table means that the peat near the surface will dry out and degrade, releasing stored pollutants, such as heavy metals into rivers, and carbon into the atmosphere.
Other important findings from EMBER include a decrease in the diversity and population sizes of invertebrates, such as insect larvae, in rivers draining from burned areas, and up to a 20?C increase in soil temperature in the immediate years after burning, compared to unburned sites.
Dr Brown said: “Even small changes in soil temperature can affect the decomposition of organic matter and the uptake of nutrients by plants. But we found increases as high as 20?C, with maximum temperatures reaching over 50?C in some cases. Such changes in thermal regime have not previously been considered in the debate over moorland management with fire, but could explain a lot of the changes we see in terms of soil chemistry and hydrology following burning.”
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