Raised Bogs and Fens: Nature’s Carbon Vaults Need Different Care – Teagasc

29 July 2025

A brand new research led by Teagasc has highlighted the crucial relationship between the drainage standing of peat soils and localised rainfall in water desk administration.

These findings can be crucial in figuring out and concentrating on appropriate websites for water desk administration, and finally maximising carbon storage potential in agricultural grassland peat soils.

Actively managing the water desk of peat soils is a vital software to achieve the EU goal of local weather neutrality by 2050. As the water desk of peat soils drop, carbon dioxide emissions improve, as a result of introduction of oxygen to the system and the breakdown of natural matter. As a part of the ReWet venture, researchers monitored six Irish peatland websites, 4 fens and two raised bogs, between September 2023 and August 2024. Using 30 monitored dip wells and hourly precipitation measurements, the connection between water desk rise, occasion rainfall and the water storage capability of the soil was investigated.

Findings revealed that fen peat websites have been considerably extra deeply drained than raised bogs, regardless of related drainage system designs. The websites additionally different in water storage capability. The water desk within the raised bogs have been much less reactive to rainfall, drought and synthetic drainage. On the opposite hand, fen peat websites have been extra deeply drained, and the water desk was extra reactive to rainfall inputs and seasonal variability. This end result reinforces earlier Teagasc endeavours to spotlight the variability of drainage standing inside peat soils underneath grassland, of which there are roughly 340,000 hectares, 141,000 hectares of that are thought of to be successfully drained (with a median water desk higher than 30 cm under the soil floor).

Patrick Tuohy, Teagasc Researcher and lead researcher on the ReWet venture feedback: “Peat soils are being targeted for active water table management, but it is essential that we understand the initial water table behaviour at such sites so that their potential response to water table management can be predicted”. Lead creator, PhD pupil, Hilary Pierce explains: “The methodology presented in the study can give insights to whether a site has potential for rewetting and enables the targeting of specific types of carbon farming efforts to specific sites. In particular, the fluctuations in the water table of fen peat sites will make future water table management in these areas more challenging.”

A proportion of grassland peat soils are being focused for lively water desk administration to scale back the typical water desk depth to inside 30 cm of the soil floor. Karl Richards, Head of the Teagasc Climate Centre mentioned “This research underscores the need for site-specific peatland water management strategies that reflect the water table behaviour of different peat types. Such tailored approaches are essential for maximising carbon storage potential and supporting climate action across European grassland landscapes.”

The analysis carried out on this publication was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) as a part of the venture ReWet – Facilitating water desk administration on carbon wealthy soils in Collaboration with the University of Galway. This work varieties a part of the Teagasc Climate Centre.

Read the analysis paper: Pierce, H., Fenton, O., Daly, E., Shnel, A., O’Leary, D., Healy, M.G. and Tuohy, P., 2025. Assessing localised rainfall and water table depth relationships in agricultural grassland peat soils. Science of The Total Environment, 994, p.180074