United Utilities SCaMP Project A Decade of Monitoring Blanket Bog - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

United Utilities’ SCaMP Project A Decade of Monitoring Blanket Bog Restoration - what have we seen and what have we learnt? S. Ross 1 , G. Hammond 1 , A. Keen 1 & C. Bullen 2 1 Penny Anderson Associates 2 United Utilities Our knowledge is your advantage

Introduction – what is SCaMP? • Sustainable Catchment Management Programme (SCaMP). • The project began in 2005/06 and continues to 2020. • Monitoring restoration approaches. • Long term dataset - begin to consider trajectories. Our knowledge is your advantage

Prior to Restoration • Significant artificial drainage (‘grips’) and gully erosion. • Areas of extensive bare peat. • Vegetation in poor condition. • Loss of peat from the moorland. Our knowledge is your advantage

Our knowledge is your advantage

Restoration Measures Restoration measures applied across 12,300ha blanket bog: • 85km grips blocked with peat or plastic dams. • 470ha eroding bare peat treated with grass ‘nurse’ crop, heather brash, and/or geojute textile. • ‘novel’ coir roll installation. Our knowledge is your advantage

Monitoring Approach • Hydrology - peat water levels, stage discharge, rainfall gauges. • Water colour (DOC), turbidity (POC). Spectrolyser deployed in the field. • Vegetation quadrats within plots, including reference plots, & fixed point photography Our knowledge is your advantage

What have we seen? • Present the effects of: (1) grip blocking at Brennand and Goyt. (2) bare peat restoration at North Longdendale. • What did we observe on the ground? • What changes did we record in the vegetation? • What changes did we monitor in terms of water levels in the peat? • What can we say about trajectories of blanket bog restoration under these different restoration scenarios? Our knowledge is your advantage

Results Goyt – grip blocking Our knowledge is your advantage

Goyt: Grip Blocking 2006 2008 2009 On Goyt there is visible evidence of the benefits of blocking grips: Heather expands. Hare’s -tail cottongrass is filling in the grip. 2010 2012 2014 Sphagnum (bog-moss) is developing in the pools formed by grip blocking . Our knowledge is your advantage

Goyt: Grip Blocking Significant increases in Sphagnum cover at Goyt • BB1 & BB2 = grips blocked 2006, with peat 50 * dams. 45 Sphagnum spp. cover (%) 40 * • BB3 = grips left 35 un-blocked until 2006 * 30 2010, then 2008 blocked with 25 2010 peat dams. 2012 20 2014 15 • BB5 = grips * 10 * blocked 2006, * 5 with peat & 0 plastic dams. BB1 BB2 BB3 BB5 Plot Code Our knowledge is your advantage

Our knowledge is your advantage WATER TABLE DEPTH BELOW SURFACE (cm) Goyt: Grip Blocking peat water levels over time The Goyt monitoring shows consistent trend towards higher and more stable 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 26/03/2007 26/05/2007 26/07/2007 26/09/2007 26/11/2007 26/01/2008 26/03/2008 26/05/2008 26/07/2008 26/09/2008 26/11/2008 26/01/2009 26/03/2009 26/05/2009 26/07/2009 26/09/2009 26/11/2009 26/01/2010 26/03/2010 26/05/2010 DATE 26/07/2010 26/09/2010 26/11/2010 26/01/2011 26/03/2011 26/05/2011 26/07/2011 26/09/2011 26/11/2011 26/01/2012 26/03/2012 26/05/2012 Mean annual WTL (cm) Water Table Level (below surface, cm) 26/07/2012 26/09/2012 26/11/2012 26/01/2013 26/03/2013 26/05/2013 26/07/2013 26/09/2013 26/11/2013

Results Brennand – grip blocking Our knowledge is your advantage

Brennand: Grip Blocking On Brennand there is also visible evidence of the benefits of blocking grips, even on large drains/grips. Heather and hare’s - tail cottongrass increase along the edges. Sphagnum (bog- moss) forms patches within the deeper pooled water, expanding from the edges. June 2016 Our knowledge is your advantage

Brennand: Grip Blocking Brennand Brennand 2017 10.1% 2007 37.5% Average Sphagnum species cover across 5 sample sites, Average Sphagnum species pre-grip blocking cover across 5 sample sites, post-grip-blocking • Significant increases in Sphagnum cover over time . • Small increases in some typical bog plants. Our knowledge is your advantage

Our knowledge is your advantage PEAT WATER TABLE DEPTH (cm) 80.00 70.00 60.00 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00 Brennand: Grip Blocking 13/07/2007 13/10/2007 13/01/2008 13/04/2008 13/07/2008 13/10/2008 13/01/2009 13/04/2009 13/07/2009 13/10/2009 13/01/2010 13/04/2010 13/07/2010 13/10/2010 13/01/2011 13/04/2011 13/07/2011 13/10/2011 13/01/2012 DATE 13/04/2012 13/07/2012 13/10/2012 13/01/2013 13/04/2013 13/07/2013 13/10/2013 13/01/2014 13/04/2014 13/07/2014 13/10/2014 Mean Annual Water Table Depth (cm) Water Table Depth (cm) 13/01/2015 13/04/2015 13/07/2015 13/10/2015 13/01/2016 13/04/2016 13/07/2016 13/10/2016 over time. some variation water levels, but and more stable annual mean increasing a trend towards Brennand show levels at Peat water

Results Ashway Gap, Quiet Shepherd & Arnfield – bare peat restoration Our knowledge is your advantage

Ashway Gap: Bare Peat Restoration 2007 2008 2012 2014 • Ashway Gap = mounds of bare peat with exposed mineral ground in the gullies. • Applied lime, ‘nurse’ grass 2017 seed and fertiliser (LSF). • Over 90% revegetation with mix of ‘dry bog’ plant species. • Little Sphagnum moss to date. Our knowledge is your advantage

Quiet Shepherd: Bare Peat Restoration 2008 2009 2012 2017 • Quiet Shepherd = gullies with bare peat sides. • Applied LSF with heather brash and geotextile. • Revegetated with ‘dry bog’ plant species. • Good general moss cover. • Little Sphagnum moss to date. • Some ‘non - bog’ plants occur. Our knowledge is your advantage

Our knowledge is your advantage Ashway Gap: Bare Peat Restoration degraded nature of the site, and vulnerable to local weather conditions. The peat water levels at Ashway Gap remain compromised due to highly PEAT WATER TABLE DEPTH BELOW SURFACE (cm) 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 22/02/2008 22/05/2008 22/08/2008 22/11/2008 22/02/2009 22/05/2009 22/08/2009 22/11/2009 22/02/2010 22/05/2010 22/08/2010 22/11/2010 22/02/2011 22/05/2011 22/08/2011 22/11/2011 22/02/2012 22/05/2012 DATE 22/08/2012 22/11/2012 22/02/2013 22/05/2013 22/08/2013 22/11/2013 22/02/2014 22/05/2014 22/08/2014 22/11/2014 22/02/2015 Mean Annual Water Table Depth 9cm) Water Table Depth (cm) 22/05/2015 22/08/2015 22/11/2015 22/02/2016 22/05/2016 22/08/2016 22/11/2016

When to return to management? Our knowledge is your advantage

Limited Intervention 2008 2014 2017 – Arnfield Moor – area retained with minimal treatment (no LSF, etc) – Shows some gradual expansion of vegetation, largely common cotton-grass. – Mostly on the more shallow slopes. – Very few ‘non - bog’ plants. – A very long term option. Our knowledge is your advantage

Limited Intervention 2007 2013 2017 – Ashway Gap – area retained with minimal treatment until 2013. – Shows very limited re-vegetation – largely common cotton-grass. – Treated with LSF sometime between 2014 and 2016. – Good re-vegetation by 2017. Our knowledge is your advantage

What have we learnt? • Sphagnum cover increases where present, can respond quickly (within 5 years) if there is a greater original cover (c.10% or more) under grip blocking. • Significant reductions in bare peat and increases in vegetation cover can occur within 5 years under LSF. Nurse crop does diminish over time. • Adding heather brash to LSF areas encourages more rapid re-vegetation of slopes, and geojute is important on steeper slopes. • Plant diversity increases over 5 to 10 years, on LSF areas this includes some ‘non - bog’ plants – introduced by seed and/or encouraged by lime and fertiliser treatments? • Limited intervention can be appropriate on some sites. • Water table levels are generally increasing (+12cm) and stabilising under grip blocking over the 10 year period. Some variation due to annual weather variation – generally within 10cm of the surface on average. • Water tables responding only slightly (+5cm) on highly eroded areas after 10 years, still 60cm below surface on average. Our knowledge is your advantage

Many thanks to all those involved in the monitoring project over the last decade. Thank you for listening! Our knowledge is your advantage