Peatland Science and Conservation: Contributions of the Greifswald Mire Centre, Germany

Abstract

Peatlands cover only 3% of the world’s land surface, but contain 500 gigatonnes of carbon within their peat—twice as much as all the biomass of the world’s forests. Besides their climate impact, peatlands play a significant role for biodiversity, nutrient retention and the regulation of the local climate and the landscape water budget. Peatlands have been the subject of research at the University of Greifswald for about 200 years. In addition to early paleoecological research, Greifswald scientists have also shaped the landscape ecology of mires. In the last 15 years or so, there has been a rapid increase in our understanding of the significance of peatlands for global environmental problems. This applies in particular to greenhouse gas emissions from drained peat soils, which account for about 5% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Since 2015, three Greifswald institutions—the University of Greifswald (research), the Michael Succow Foundation (implementation) and DUENE e.V. (policy advice)—have therefore been working together and are developing the Greifswald Mire Centre (GMC) as an interface between science, practice and politics in relation to peatlands. The work focuses on climate change, biodiversity and sustainable use. The vision of the GMC is a world in which peatlands are perceived as vital and vulnerable systems, natural mires are preserved, degraded peatlands are restored and any use of peatlands is sustainable. The innovative methods developed at the Greifswald Mire Centre for the study of peatlands and their environmentally friendly use by paludiculture have been tested in international projects and are applicable in many regions.