Action

Add lime to reduce acidity and/or increase fertility

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    50%
  • Certainty
    15%
  • Harms
    20%

Study locations

Key messages

  • One study evaluated the effects of liming (without planting) on peatland vegetation. The study was in a fen meadowN.B. Liming is considered in different contexts here and here.
  • Vegetation structure (1 study): One replicated, controlled study in a fen meadow in the Netherlands found that liming increased overall vegetation biomass (mostly grass).

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

  1. A replicated, controlled study in 1994 in a degraded fen meadow in the Netherlands (van Duren et al. 1998) found that limed plots contained more plant biomass after three months than unlimed plots. This was true in plots that had previously been stripped of topsoil (limed: 40; unlimed: 20 g/m2 biomass) and plots that had not been stripped (limed: 250; unlimed: 200 g/m2 biomass). The biomass was mostly established, dominant, velvety bentgrass Agrostis canina (precise contribution not reported). In May 1994, ten 1 m2 plots in a degraded, historically drained fen meadow were limed (approximately 500 g/m2). Ten additional plots were not limed. Five limed and five unlimed plots had been previously stripped of topsoil. In August 1994, above-ground vegetation was harvested in one 60 x 60 cm quadrat/plot, then dried and weighed.

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Taylor, N.G., Grillas, P. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Peatland Conservation. Pages 367-430 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

Peatland Conservation

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Peatland Conservation
Peatland Conservation

Peatland Conservation - Published 2018

Peatland Conservation

What Works 2021 cover

What Works in Conservation

What Works in Conservation provides expert assessments of the effectiveness of actions, based on summarised evidence, in synopses. Subjects covered so far include amphibians, birds, mammals, forests, peatland and control of freshwater invasive species. More are in progress.

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