Changes in vegetation in the former peat milling fields after hydrological restoration in Lielais Ķemeri Mire

Published source details Priede A. (2013) Changes in vegetation in the former peat milling fields after hydrological restoration in Lielais Ķemeri Mire. Pages 207-216 in: Raised Bog Management for Biological Diversity Conservation in Latvia. University of Latvia, Riga.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Rewet peatland (raise water table) Action Link

Rewet peatland (raise water table)

A controlled study in 2006–2012 in a historically mined raised bog in Latvia (Priede 2013) reported that following rewetting, cover of feathery bog moss Sphagnum cuspidatum and white beak sedge Rhynchospora alba increased whilst cover of heather Calluna vulgaris decreased. Most of these results were not tested for statistical significance. Cover of feathery bog moss was 2% one year after rewetting but 28% six years after. No other Sphagnum species colonized. Cover of white beak sedge was 2% one year after rewetting but 39% six years after. Over the same period, heather cover decreased significantly from 35 to 19%. However, heather cover also decreased significantly in plots that were not rewetted (data not reported). In 2006, drainage ditches on part of a historically milled bog were blocked, raising the water table by 60 cm. In the rest of the bog, drainage ditches were left unblocked. Each year between 2007 and 2012, vegetation cover was estimated in permanent quadrats (4 m diameter circles): twenty-one in the rewetted area and seven in the drained area.

(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)