Abstract
Currently, 50% of Irish rivers do not meet water quality standards, with many declining due to numerous pressures, including peatland degradation. This study examines stream water quality in the Irish midlands, a region where raised bogs have been all historically disturbed to various extent and the majority drained for industrial or domestic peat extraction. For the first time, we provide in-depth analysis of stream water chemistry within a heavily modified bog landscape. Small streams from degraded bogs exhibited greater levels of pollutants, in particular: total dissolved nitrogen (0.48 mg/l) and sulphate (18.49 mg/l) as well as higher electrical conductivity (mean: 334 μS/cm) compared to similar bog streams in near-natural bogs. Except for site-specific nitrogen pollution in certain streams surrounding degraded peatlands, the chemical composition of the receiving streams did not significantly differ between near-natural and degraded sites, reflecting the spatio-temporal scales of disturbance in this complex peat-scape. Dissolved organic carbon concentrations in all the receiving streams were high (27.2 mg/l) compared to other Irish streams, even within other peatland catchments. The region is experiencing overall a widespread loss of fluvial nitrogen and carbon calling for (a) the development of management instruments at site-level (water treatment) and landscape-level (rewetting) to assist with meeting water quality standards in the region, and (b) the routine monitoring of water chemistry as part of current and future peatland management activities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Hydrobiologia |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 28 Mar 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors are grateful to the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for funding the SWAMP project (2018-W-LS-18): Strategies to improve water quality from managed peatlands under EPA 2014–2020. The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. It is administered by the EPA, which has the statutory function of co-ordinating and promoting environmental research. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and Dr Jon Yearsley for his statistical advice.
Funding Information:
Open Access funding provided by the IReL Consortium. The research leading to these results received funding from the EPA under Grant Agreement 2018-W-LS-18. The authors declare they have no financial interests.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).