Pre-restoration peat samples have been collected

How will the peat at restoration sites change?

Our colleagues from the Department of Ecosystem Biology (project partner – University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Faculty of Science) have just completed pre-restoration peat sampling. They covered a total of 11 drained sites, which will be revitalized in the coming years. To these areas they added another 6 undisturbed, so-called control sites, where they collected peat in the same way. Peat samples must be processed in a laboratory and subjected to several analyzes, which will show us, for example, how much water the peat retains, what acidity it has, how fast it decomposes or how many microorganisms live in it and how active they are. The results from undisturbed sites in comparison with drained sites will make it possible to evaluate the influence of long-term drainage on the monitored quality of peat. In the following years, on the contrary, data from undisturbed localities will help us to evaluate whether the development in restored sites is going in the right direction.

See the process of sampling…